WALTER MEISINGER FAMILY
By Margaret Diehl Meisinger

Walter Meisinger was born January 19, 1988, on the family farm located on Modaff Road approximately 2 miles south of 75th street in Naperville.

He was the son of Adam (1859-1941) and Margaret Dieter (1862-1911). Walter was the grandson of John (1836-1862) and Catherine Herbert (1840-1821). He is the great grandson of John (1840-1912) and Elizabeth Geib (1829-?). John and Elizabeth came to Naperville in about 1842 and had 10 children.

In 1918, Walter married Cecelia (Jungles), born March 26, 1897, in DuPage Township, Will County. Cecelia was the daughter of Peter and Emma (Dryfus) Jungles.

Walter and Cecelia started farming on the Jungles farm on Route 53 in Du Page Township in 1918. In 1925 they moved to the Meisinger Homestead on Modaff Road South of 75th Street on Naperville, and continued to farm there until 1957. Walter died in 1973 and Cecelia in 1987.

They reared the following six children:
• Earl, born July 27, 1920, married Margaret (Diehl), born August 11, 1922
• Irene, born February 8, 1922, married Wilbur Simkins born September 20, 1915: died November 6, 1986 and Irene subsequently married Gerald Bastiaans, born January 12, 1921.
• Loretta, born December 3, 1926, marred Richard Callendar, born October 27, 1924. Loretta and Richard live in Naperville and farm in LaSalle County, have four children and eleven grandchildren.
• Rosemary, born April 9, 1931, married Nicolas Moore, born October 24, 1934. They lived in DeKalb and have two children and six grandchildren.
• Kenneth, born June 14, 1933, married Kathleen (Mcgarry), born July 6. 1942. They live in Naperville and have three sons.
• Donald, born September 20, 1924, married Elaine (Herrmann), born January 30, 1939. They live in Sycamore and have five children and five grandchildren.

Earl and Margaret Diehl Meisinger

Earl Meisinger was born on July 27, 1920, in Du Page Township, Route 53, Lemont, in what is now Bolingbrook, the eldest son of Walter and Cecelia (Jungles) Meisinger.

In 1925 Earl moved with his parents to the old Meisinger homestead on Modaff Road in Naperville, and attended schools in Naperville and farmed with his father until 1943 when he married Margaret (Diehl).

The couple met while Earl was doing custom farming mostly in the southeast Naperville area. Earl had one of the few hay balers in the area at the time of WWII. They moved to a small farm in Du Page Township. Margaret had taught school in Sandwich, Illinois, prior to their marriage, and again at the Barbers Corners School on Route 53 after their marriage.

Earl and Margaret reared seven children and continued farming until 1974 when they moved to the old Boughton House on Book Road in Naperville. 
• Dennis, born February 18, 1944, married Virgina (Moody) and is a warehouse manager for Great Lakes dredge and Dock Company in Ghana, Africa. 
• Dale, born April 27, 1945, married Patricia LeGrand. Dale, now retired, was a certified Chimney Sweep in North Augusta, South Carolina as “Lucky Dale”. They have five children: Donald, Dion, Darcy (deceased), Daisy, and Dale Jr., and eight grandchildren: Dion Jr. (D.J.), Brittany, Tiffany, Chyann, and Richard, Jr., Dale III, and Dylan.
• David, born April 15, 1947, married Carol Papa. They had one daughter, Jessica and were later divorced. Davis subsequently married Victoria (Guest), and they have two sons, Jard (J.C.) and Sam live in Earlham, Iowa. David is the assistant Vice president for Educational Services at the National Pork Board in Des Moines.
• Dean, born July 29, 1948 (died December 9, 1989), was a pilot in Houston, Texas and flew for the federal Reserve Banks at the time of his death.
• D. Jeanne (JeJe), born March 31, 1950, has her own company: Meisinger-Sable, Inc. and is Sales Director for Chrome Hearts in L.A. She lives in Los Angels and has a daughter, Ava.
• Dana, born Narch 29, 1957, married David Miller, divorced, and now married to Randy Gaddy. Dana is a Library Technician with the law firm of Perkins, Coie Seattle, Washington. Dana and Randy have one son, Colin and live in Issaquah.
• Derryl, born February 6, 1962, is a salesman at Auto Zone in Austin, Texas. He married Suzanne Pena and they have two children: Steele and Jet.


Community Leaders Then & Now

Earl formerly was on the Chapman School Board and when the schools were consolidated, he became the first School Board President of Valley View School, District 96.

He was past president of Illinois Game and Pet Breeders Society, on the Board of Metropolitan YMCA, and was one of the organizers of the Heritage Bank of Bolingbrook, serving on the board for ten years. He was one of the organizers on the Romeoville/Bolingbrook Foutaindale Library and served on the first Board, and was also Du Page Township Assessor and served on the Bolingbrook Plan Commission. Earl was elected to the Will County Farm Bureau, 1967 and was President from 1970 to 1972. For twenty years, Earl assisted the Illinois Co-op Crop Reporting Service.
Earl and Margaret are members of the Naperville Congregtional Church and Earl served as the Moderator, Deacon, Trustee, and 3-F club. He was a member of the Madame Alexander Doll Club Board, and is a past President of that organization.

At the present Earl is on the Wheatland Township Cemetery Board, a member of the Naperville Postal consumer Advisory Council, Joliet Minor College Foundation Board of which he was a charter member serving two terms as President, Wheatland Plowing Match Association, in which he has served as President and Vice-President.

Earl also is President if the Modern Doll Collectors, Inc., and is Secretary-Treasurer of the Shirley Temple Collectors convention, Inc. He’s also a member of the United Federation of Doll Clubs. He is a volunteer at the Annual Postal Service Food Drive, an Election Judge, a member of the Conservation Foundation, and the Naperville Heritage Society.

Earl farmed from 1943 to 1974 and has worked as a furniture salesman, a Realtor with Stroyan and Associates, a restaurant chef, and ten years part-time help at the Lemont post office. 

While Earl was working, his wife, Marge stayed home raising the children, and then in the late 50’s and early 60’s, Marge substituted in the Valley View School District until their youngest son was born in 1962. She then became involved in doll collecting and research, and has contributed to almost 100 books on dolls, movies, and collectibles, and has had one book dedicated to her. She is continually asked for information from other collectors and authors, has received the Service Award and the Hart Award and the Doll Club, and the Cathie Clark Award from the Modern Doll Collectors. Marge has presented numerous programs and written many articles and both she and Earl have been the subject of a number of articles about dolls and collectibles.