Family:Joseph Schertz and Elizabeth Ordway (1)

Joseph Schertz was the son of French-born Mennonites who in Tiskliwa Illinois. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in mechanical engineering. After college he worked in Chicago and lived in a boarding house operated by his the grandfather of his future wife, Ira Ordway. Joseph may have found the home of Ira Ordway, a Seventh Day Baptist to be a comfortable environment given Joseph's religious background.

Joseph Schertz and Elizabeth Ordway married on 25 Oct 1911 in Chicago, IL. For the first few years they lived in the home of Elizabeth's mother, Elizabeth Patten. In 1915 Joseph, Elizabeth and their baby daughter, Elizabeth May moved to Oak Park, Illinois where they bought a home at 704 South Clinton Avenue. At that time or shortly afterwards, Elizabeth’s Mother, Elizabeth Patten Ordway also made her home with the family. A second child, Joseph William Schertz, Jr. was also born in to this family. The Ordway family had belonged to the Seventh Day Baptist Church, however, after moving to Oak Park they joined the regular Baptist church in Oak Park. The family’s friends and social life however was strongly based on members of the Seventh Day Baptist church. They frequently went to Lake Geneva Wisconsin and Milton Wisconsin where they camped and picnicked with many of the church members. Shortly after Elizabeth’s death in 1934 Joseph went to Washington D.C. where he worked for the federal government. In 1946, after World War II, his son Joseph and Joseph’s new bride made their home with Joseph and soon after his granddaughter Sherry Schertz joined the family. Joseph is said to have enjoyed his little granddaughter living with him. In 1949 Joseph married a longtime family friend, Agnes Post. Joseph died on 8 January 1950 in Oak Park. Joseph and Elizabeth are buried at Milton Cemetery in Milton Wisconsin.