Blessed is my grandmother, Katherine

Katherine Jantzen Prieb

1896 - 1991

My grandmother was a quilter.

When Katherine set up her large quilting frame in her small living room it spread wall to wall and filled the room. I remember squeezing around the quilting frame to watch my grandmother sewing delicate stitches with her rough hands. She sewed together scraps of cloth collected from old dresses to create beautiful quilts. Katherine joined other church women in sewing circles to make quilts for church missions. My grandmother made quilts for all of her grandchildren; presenting each grandchild a quilt when they got married as a wedding gift. I was the lone granddaughter that didn’t get married until I was in my 40’s. She gave up waiting for my wedding day and I finally got mine.

See the photo quilt I made below.

My grandmother was a farmer and a gardener.

Katherine’s hands were rough and thick and embedded with dirt from years of farming. When she moved to town, she grew juicy red strawberries and baked pies with rhubarb from her backyard garden. I was always curious about the clucking chickens laying eggs in the shed next to the garden. I didn’t know anyone else who had chickens in town.

Katherine loved working with soil. See my garden plot below.

Above: Katherine and John Prieb with three of their five children. My dad is the boy in the middle.

My garden plot at Vedgewater Community Gardens

My grandmother collected snapshots.

Katherine had 18 grandchildren; she wrote letters to us and prayed for us. Snapshots of her grandchildren were on display in every room of her house and she would point them out to anyone who came to visit. She would show me photographs of my twin cousins I didn’t know who lived in Alaska and tell me all about them.

My grandmother loved snapshots of her family.

These are my cousins; two sets of twins and I were all born close together. Grandmother cared for one set of twins when their mother, her youngest daughter, died soon after the twin boys were born.

This is one of my favorite snapshots. Katherine, my grandmother is holding my niece also named Katherine. The other two women are my great aunts. These great aunts both lived in the Chicago area at one time.

Katherine loved a table crowded with family.

Katherine’s house was small and slightly crooked and needed some repair. My grandparents raised five children during the depression; my dad told stories of the challenges and disappointments they endured. They worked hard to earn a living. But all that was forgotten when aunts and uncles and cousins gathered together around the table for Easter or Christmas. While my dad and my uncles talked in another room, and the grandchildren played, the food would be prepared in the kitchen by my three aunts, my mom and grandma. When the table was set, everyone gathered around the tables to sing a hymn in harmony before the meal was served.

Katherine was happy when the table was crowded with family.

My grandmother’s Bible.

Katherine was a woman of faith.

The Mennonite church was her center. Her days were filled with church services, Bible study, and sewing circles. Her well-worn and well-used Bible was her guide. She prayed for her family. She asked God’s for help. She believed in prayer. So do I.

Blessed is my grandmother, Katherine. Her prayers for me are still answered.

Take it or leave it suggestion #12 Thank your grandmother for her prayers.