Susanna Simmerl Youngblut

Susanna Simmerl was born on April 6, 1831, in Oberfeulen, Luxembourg, the third child of Theodore and Angela (Hottua) Simmerl. On December 30, 1856, at the age of twenty-five, she gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Barbara. Then, in the spring of 1857, along with her older brother Peter Simmerl, Susanna immigrated to the United States. Her infant daughter Barbara remained in Luxembourg with Susanna's mother, Angela Simmerl.

Six months later, in December 1857, Susanna married Frank Youngblut another Luxembourger, who had immigrated to the United States in 1852. The couple began farming near Gilbertville, Iowa, a small community just outside Waterloo.

In 1866, a decade after she had immigrated to the United States, Susanna arranged for her mother Angela Simmerl, and her firstborn child Barbara Simmerl, to come to the United States. Angela and Barbara lived in Luxemburg, Iowa with Angela's son, Peter, who was Susanna's older brother. In 1875, Barbara Simmerl married Henry Bunkers, and the young couple soon moved west to Sioux County, Iowa, where they began farming near Granville.

They became the parents of twelve children. Barbara's grandmother, Angela Simmerl continued to live with Barbara and Henry Bunkers until Angela's death in 1897. Barbara Bunkers continued to live in Granville, Iowa, until her death on February 4, 1943.

Susanna and Frank Youngblut had nine children, and they farmed just outside Gilbertville for many years, then retired and moved into town. Frank Youngblut died on May 11, 1892. When Susanna died nearly fourteen years later on May 20, 1906 she was buried next to her husband in the Youngblut family plot in Immaculate Conception cemetery in Gilbertville.

Today, her descendants number in the hundreds. Many of them still live in the Waterloo, Iowa, area. Some of the descendants of Susanna's first child, Barbara Simmerl Bunkers, still live in the northwest Iowa towns of Granville, Alton, and Remsen.

Suzanne Bunkers, who is Susanna's great-great-granddaughter (and Barbara's great-granddaughter) wanted to honor Susanna's memory with a brick in the Plaza of Heroines. Suzanne Bunkers grew up in Granville, Iowa. Suzanne Bunkers attended Iowa State University where she received her B. S. in English (1972) and her M. A. in English (1974). She is now a professor of English at Mankato State University in Mankato, MN.

Submitted on 6/9/94