Person:Unknown Jankowski (1)

The following are two separate newspaper articles about Hedwig. HEDWIG VILLAGE GOT START FROM GENEROUS LOCAL WOMAN (By Dana Morrison, Assistant Editor) The area which encompasses Hedwig Village used to be farm land until the county wanted to develop it. Due to the graciousness of Hedwig Jankowski Schroeder, Hedwig Village had it's beginnings. About 20 years ago Schroeder deeded seven acres to then County Commissioner Tom Graham for right-of-way to what is now known as Hedwig Road. Due to her contribution Hedwig Road was named after her. And when the village was incorporated in 1964 it was given the name Hedwig Village and a park was also named in her honor. The park, which is located on Corbindale, is tree lined and has a recreational area. Schroeder's pioneering of Hedwig Village began in 1906 when she first came to Houston from Germany. Schroeder came to Houston to help her sister run a hotel and saloon in downtown Houston. When she was 19 she married a man 25 years her senior (and a foot and three inches taller than her) and settled on a farm right off of Memorial Drive. "Hedwig Village used to be a farm," said Ida Warwick, Schroeder's daughter. "The Schroeder family had land from Memorial Drive to the Katy Freeway. They had about 150 acres and the other family members had the other land," Warwick said. "They had paid 25 cents an acre so they could run their hogs," Warwick said. "It used to take them a half day to go to town in the wagon," she said. "She (Schroeder) loved the old home place," said Evelyn Kingsbury, Schroeder's granddaughter. "She hated to see it grow up," Kingsbury said. The Schroeder's eventually owned a store where Gorman's Cleaners is now located on the Katy Freeway. Schroeder had spent 78 years of her life in Spring Branch. Her last few years were spent in a nursing home. But according to her family members, Schroeder led a happy life until she died on September 28 at the age of 96. Schroeder is survived by her daughter Ida Warwick; her great grandchildren, Susan Yeager, Sherry Lee Rayna, Melissa Bortz, Brian Bortz, Abby Przybylski, Arlene Collins, Karen Klepac, Joseph Przybylski, James Przybylski and Terry Przybylski; and by her grandchildren, Evelyn Kingsbury, Julia Przybylski, Joseph Przybylski, Paul Przybylski and Shirly Bortz; great great grandchildren are Trevor Ben Yeager and Jeremy Christopher Reyna.

CHURCH TO CELEBRATE 133 YEARS (By Janie Fried, Staff Writer) She has milk white hair and eyes the color of celery. At 94, Mrs. Hedwig Jankoski Schroeder is the oldest living member of the oldest church in Harris County. The church, St. Peter United at 9022 Long Point Road in Spring Branch, will celebrate its 133 anniversary October 11. Her health may not permit Mrs. Schroeder's presence at services that day. She resides at a retirement home a few blocks from the chapel where she was married in 1906. Her granddaughter and great-granddaughters also were married in the white framed chapel preserved to look much like it did when Mrs. Schroeder was a young woman. Fourteen narrow pews, a pump organ and a wood-burning stove are housed inside the chapel built with square nails and heart of pine lumber. Many of the prayer books kept under glass in the chapel's foyer are printed in German, a reflection of the families who founded Spring Branch. With help from her daughter, Ida Warwick, Mrs. Schroeder recently recalled earlier times when German was the language of the community. "I came to Texas when I was 19, " Mrs. Schroeder said. Her journey was on a boat from Greenhagen, Germany. Her mother had died and Mrs. Schroeder left her country to join her sister who had opened a hotel and saloon in downtown Houston. Her boat first arrived in Baltimore, then finally sailed for Galveston. During the trip, Mrs. Schroeder recalled knitting a pair of socks for one of the passengers and being given bananas in return for the handiwork. "I ate those bananas peels and all," she said. Once in Houston, she worked at her sisters' hotel. It was here that she met her future husband, Henry Schroeder. "He came in one day with groceries," she reminisced. Schroeder was the son of one of the founders of Spring Branch, Jacob Schroeder. He was 44 years old when he met his future wife. Married in the St. Peter's chapel, the couple's marriage certificate was partially written in German. Schroeder owned 150 acres of farmland along what is now Smithdale Road. They raised sheep, hogs, cattle and grains. On Sundays they rode in a buggy to church. What Mrs. Schroeder remembered most of those times were the dances the community held once a month on Saturday night. "My husband didn't dance," she said. "So I'd dance with some of the other ladies." Coffee and bread were served as refreshments at the social gatherings. Waltzing was the popular dance of the era. The Schroeders were the parents of three children, Ernest, Dora Wyrick and Ida Warwick. Mrs. Schroeder has lived to see five grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren and a great-great-grandson Trevor Ben Yeager who will celebrate his second birthday in November.