Elfrieda Grunwald Schweinle 12/21/1918 – 5/10/2015 Over 96 Years of Highly Regarded Lifeoffertory

How do you describe a woman like Elfrieda? Mother; wife; homemaker; excellent cook and baker; domino player; gardener (she could grow a creosote post and started many of her famous roses from a mere cutting from a friend’s rose bush); lover and grower of roses and flowers; dancer; hostess with the mostest (could set a pretty table or entertain hundreds at a BBQ picnic); volunteer; devout Christian and reader of the Bible; friend; sister; grandmother; great-grandmother; great-great grandmother; green and organic before green and organic were cool (back in the 1950s); built an underground, earth sheltered home in 1981; La Grange Senior Citizen of the Year in 1990; calm in chaos or crises; comforter to those in pain or grief; brave and strong…..an amazing woman. Elfrieda, who was born December 21, 1918, in Beasley, Ft. Bend County, Texas, was one of six children born to Fred and Frieda Grunwald, a hard working German farm family. She remained a country girl at heart. She went to her heavenly home on Sunday, May 10, 2015. She loved her Lord and Savior and her church, especially the quilters. She worked hard all her life. Elfrieda was married to W.E. Schweinle (Bill) for 61 years before he passed away in June 2002. Their relationship started at a dancehall on Studewood Street in the Heights of Houston in February 1941, and they married on April 30, 1941. It was truly love at first sight. They wanted a family right away and, indeed, their first-born and only son, Bill, Jr., was born in February 1942, followed by Joyce in July 1943, Melba in April 1946, and Frieda in July 1952. Bill and Elfrieda were devoted to their children in every way and never missed a cartwheel, recital, sports game, awards ceremony, or any activity in which the children were involved. Elfrieda supported her children in every way---getting clothes ready; cooking meals; driving them before they could drive, including taking all of her children to emergency medical care when each of them suffered play or work injuries; serving as room mother; participating in 4-H; and taking them to church and confirmation classes. She taught her children the values of thrift, cleanliness, healthy eating habits, hard work, and doing any job to the best of their ability. Elfrieda and Bill wanted to raise their children in the country and began buying Brazoria County property in the early 1940s, accumulating 2200 acres. They moved the family from Houston to Brazoria County in 1955, where all four children graduated from Angleton High School. Elfrieda believed all of her children should work hard and, indeed, all had chores before and after school, as well as on weekends. Our immediate family, and so many others, were blessed to have Mom’s “cure for what ails ya”--chicken and dumplings, beans and cornbread, tapioca pudding, her famous potato salad, apple pie, and lemon meringue pie. “Nobody cooks like Momma!” Not many people know the medical problems Elfrieda suffered throughout her life because she always “got her job done.” She had very bad teeth and had to have almost all of them pulled shortly after marriage due to constant pain and infections; she had untreated scarlet fever which led to rheumatic fever in 1956, which nearly killed her. She was in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Houston and saw Jesus at the foot of her bed. She said she told Him she couldn’t cross over because she had to take care of her children. She made it through. Elfrieda also had several major surgeries which would debilitate most people; but she kept going. She had a very bad back and still kept going. Most people would have succumbed to pain pills, but not Elfrieda. In fact, she did not often take pain medication, when others in her situation would have devoured it. Elfrieda and Bill were always active in the communities in which they lived, supporting and doing what they could for the schools, churches, communities, and neighboring families. They went dancing several times a month; played dominoes; enjoyed giving fish fries with fish caught in their own pond; worked together in their year-round garden; and checked their cows together every day. Elfrieda was the epitome of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31, “Who can find a virtuous woman?... for her price is far above rubies……Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised....Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.” God truly blessed Elfrieda and the entire Schweinle family by bringing the best caregivers into our lives. They were the most loving, caring, and devoted caregivers. Words cannot convey the gratitude and thankfulness our family feels from the blessings we received from the compassionate, dedicated way they all cared for Mom and for us also. We consider them all family. May God bless you for the way you cared for our Mom. Special thanks go to Peggy Anderson-Mapes and husband, Carl Mapes; and to all the women from Compassionate Provider Services of Texas. Our thanks also go out to Dr.Thomas Borgstedte and his staff, of La Grange, for the years of care and kindness. Elfrieda is survived by her older sister, Martha Holub, of Houston; son William E. Schweinle, Jr., of Houston; daughter, Joyce Franklin, of Wimberley; daughter, Melba Beken and husband, Roy, of Rosharon; daughter, Frieda Schweinle, of Houston; five grandchildren, William E. Schweinle, III and wife, Amy, of Vermillion, South Dakota; Jon A. Schweinle and wife, Kelly, of Houston; Brent McCain and wife, Stacey, of Bruceville; Tracey Keller and husband, Darrell, of San Antonio; and Elliot Franklin and wife, Denise, of Cibolo; 10 great grandchildren; one great-great grandson; and numerous nieces and nephews. Elfrieda was truly a marvel. She had strength few knew. She fought the good fight. She finished her course. She kept the faith. May she rest in peace. Visitation will be held Wednesday, May 13, 2015, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and family will receive friends from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Koenig & Strickland Funeral Home, 208 W. Pearl Street, La Grange, Texas. A service celebrating the life of Elfrieda will be held at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, 427 S. Washington Street, La Grange, Texas, on Thursday, May 14, 2015, at 11:00 a.m., with interment to follow at La Grange City Cemetery Contributions in lieu of flowers may be made in Elfrieda Schweinle’s name to St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church, 427 S. Washington Street, La Grange, Texas 78945; Hospice Brazos Valley, 1048 N. Jefferson, La Grange, Texas; or Compassionate Provider Services of Texas, P.O. Box 1216, La Grange, Texas 78945. Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Koenig & Strickland Funeral Home, 208 W. Pearl, La Grange, Texas. Family and friends can view and sign the guestbook online at www.lagrangefunerals.com.