Elsa Ratzke was born in 1901 to Franz (Frank) and Bertha (nee Krueger) Ratzke, who were both German immigrants. She was raised in Illinois and in Iowa, alongside several brothers and sisters.
In 1923, Elsa married Lorenz Klaffke at St. Paul Lutheran church in Hardin County, Iowa. Over the next decade or so, they were blessed with four daughters. They farmed for some years, and later owned and operated a tavern in the small town of Popejoy.
Lorenz passed away in 1947, and Elsa continued raising her daughters and lived independently for many years, enjoying her grandchildren. Later in life after losing most of her sight, she spent her last few years in a care home before passing away in 1998 at nearly 97 years old.
Source: S-1316794317 1940 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627 Record Collection 2442
Source: S-2063368932 1930 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, Record Collection 6224
Source: S-2063369180 Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Record Collection 1030 Note: This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.Ancestry Family Tree
Source: S-2067712434 1920 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data - Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Reco Record Collection 6061
Source: S-2067712435 Social Security Death Index Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.Original data - Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security D Record Collection 3693
Source: S-2067712436 1910 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.Original data - Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Was Record Collection 7884
Source: S-2067712437 Iowa State Census Collection, 1836-1925 Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007.Original data - Microfilm of Iowa State Censuses, 1856, 1885, 1895, 1905, 1915, 1925 as well various special censuses from 1836-1897 obtained from the State Historical Society of Iowa v Record Collection 1084
Source: S-921845911 U.S., Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2012 Provo, UT, USA Record Collection 60525
Source: S-922479329 Iowa, Marriage Records, 1923-1937 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2014 Provo, UT, USA Record Collection 8823
Source: S483550088 Iowa, Death Records, 1920-1940 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2017 Lehi, UT, USA Record Collection 61442
Source: S486643659 Iowa, Delayed Birth Records, 1856-1940 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2017 Lehi, UT, USA Record Collection 61441
Source: S510504922 Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations Inc 2019 Lehi, UT, USA Record Collection 61843
Source: S525402341 U.S., Newspapers.com Marriage Index, 1800s-current Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations Inc 2020 Lehi, UT, USA Record Collection 62116
Source: S525402851 U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 2015 Provo, UT, USA Record Collection 60901
Is Elsa your ancestor? Please don't go away! Login to collaborate or comment, or contact
the profile manager, or ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com
DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships.
It is likely that these
autosomal DNA
test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Elsa:
~12.50% ~25.00%Crystal White :
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch JG6574293[compare][compare x], yourDNAportal CRY6738bc46, Ancestry member CLR820
This week's featured connections are
Redheads:
Elsa is
21 degrees from Catherine of Aragón, 22 degrees from Clara Bow, 29 degrees from Julia Gillard, 16 degrees from Nancy Hart, 17 degrees from Rutherford Hayes, 20 degrees from Rita Hayworth, 23 degrees from Leonard Kelly, 25 degrees from Rose Leslie, 23 degrees from Damian Lewis, 22 degrees from Maureen O'Hara, 24 degrees from Jopie Schaft and 37 degrees from Eirik Thorvaldsson
on our single family tree.
Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.