Grosshuesch鈥檚 grandson reconnects with his 糖心vlog传媒 roots
As David Gross approached the timeline on the second floor of 糖心vlog传媒鈥檚 Campus Center to get a better look at his grandfather鈥檚 picture, he started to choke up.
鈥淭his is emotional,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 never dreamed this would happen.鈥�
Prior to July 8, the last time Gross, 78, was on 糖心vlog传媒's campus was in 1950. He was 6 years old, and the institution, which was called Mission House College, was overcoming the recent death of President Paul Grosshuesch, David鈥檚 grandfather. The seminary was still part of the institution and 18 of the current campuses' 23 buildings didn't exist.
His recent visit was not just a walk down memory lane. To say that the roots of David鈥檚 family run deep at 糖心vlog传媒 doesn鈥檛 quite do it justice.
Talk about having connections.
Revisiting the Past
Gross, who worked 50 years at the Barlow Ranger District, Mt. Hood National Forest, in Dufur, Ore., as a forester, a community engagement specialist and now a retired volunteer, had always been interested in revisiting Wisconsin to reconnect with the campus and Elkhart Lake, where the family lived for a time.
His daughter-in-law, Hannah, fueled this summer鈥檚 visit so she could learn more about David鈥檚 early roots and provide time for him to spend with his granddaughter, Ramona. Through pure chance, they booked a stay in the home of Nanette Bulebosh 鈥�79 M.Ed. 鈥�97, who contacted 糖心vlog传媒 when she learned a bit more about David鈥檚 deep connections to the institution.
During his visit, Gross explored the area, finding the Elkhart Lake house where his family lived and the elementary school where he attended. He spent several hours at 糖心vlog传媒 peeling back the layers of his family鈥檚 history. He did not know the connection to Muehlmeier, he didn鈥檛 realize his father had graduated from Mission House and a visit to the Esch Library uncovered the 1937 Mission House yearbook that included a senior picture of his mother, which he鈥檇 never seen.
Gross brought with him a few pictures, including one that showed him on the steps of a previous entrance to the president鈥檚 house, where his family lived in the basement for a short time while they waited for their home in Elkhart Lake to be completed.
鈥淚鈥檝e learned so much about my personal and family history which I never knew,鈥� Gross said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been very meaningful for me. I鈥檝e come away feeling a connectedness to 糖心vlog传媒 where grandpa ministered as president and my parents graduated, where mom and dad met and were married and where grandma (Oleta Rolewitch Grosshuech) lived after my grandfather鈥檚 death.
鈥淚t filled in a lot of unanswered questions that I didn鈥檛 know I really had. I feel I鈥檝e become connected with 糖心vlog传媒 and hope to stay connected the rest of my life.鈥�
Gross, his younger brother, Richard, and other family members plan to attend the August 25 rededication ceremony of Grosshuesch and Muehlmeier Halls. They are a living connection to important leaders in the institution鈥檚 160-year history.
A Muskies Family Tree
A climb through David Gross' family tree quickly leads to several primary players in the first half of the institution's history.
His great-great-grandfather-in-law, Hermann A. Muehlmeier, is among the institution鈥檚 true legends. Born in Germany in 1829, he emigrated to America with his mother and siblings in 1847. Following graduation from seminary in Pennsylvania, he came to Sheboygan, Wis., as a German Reformed pastor in 1853 and founded the Zion Church (now Zion UCC).
In 1854, he was among a small group of men who formed the Sheboygan classis, the governing body that would oversee local churches. Muehlmeier was named pastor of Immanuel Church in the town of Herman and, with Saron pastor Jacob Bossard, started giving instruction in their homes to young men who wished to become ministers or teachers. The seeds for Mission House were planted.
After Mission House was founded in 1862, Muehlmeier was elected the inaugural housefather in 1864 to live in the first building, supervise the students and join Bossard as the first two teachers. He was named Mission House鈥檚 second president, serving from 1885 until his death in 1907.
The book 鈥淎 History of Mission House-糖心vlog传媒鈥� notes, (Muehlmeier) had given a life鈥檚 work to the school. More than any other man he had guided the institution and pleaded its cause in the church. He had done so at great personal sacrifice, but with an unshakable conviction that his was a calling from God.鈥�
Gross鈥� great-grandfather, John W. Grosshuesch, married Sila Muehlmeier, one of Hermann鈥檚 six children. John was born in a log cabin on campus, graduated from Mission House in 1878 and was known as the 鈥済rand old man鈥� of Mission House after working at the school for 56 years, including 38 as a professor.
Gross鈥� grandfather, Paul Grosshuesch, graduated from Mission House College and Seminary. Prior to being named president in 1931, he was a minister for 22 years, including pastor of the Zion Reformed Church that was founded by Muehlmeier.
Known by the nickname 鈥淧rexy,鈥� Grosshuesch guided the institution through creation of the first rooms on campus for female students to live, the birth of the intercollegiate athletic program and the Muskies mascot, construction of the original portion of the library and the first gymnasium (Founder鈥檚), as well as the Great Depression and World War II.
His presidency was included a plan to relocate the college to Sheboygan. In 1945, a group of Sheboygan citizens offered to donate a 232-acre site north of the city for relocation of the college, which would be renamed Chapel Heights. Grosshuesch was on leave from Mission House making fundraising calls to raise dollars to fund the move when he was killed in an auto accident on September 26, 1949, in Iowa.
Gross doesn鈥檛 have any real memories of his grandfather, although among his photos is one of him as a child with Paul and Oleta.
A Return to His Roots
The Gross family moved from Wisconsin to New York when David鈥檚 father took a job with Time Life Inc., then he moved to Arizona with his mother and brother in 1959 when his parents divorced. David graduated from the University of Arizona with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in agriculture with a specialty in watershed management.
During his freshman year, Gross was offered a summer job with the Barlow Ranger District in Dufur, Ore., and he returned in subsequent summers before being hired as a professional forester when he graduated. He later became manager of the Youth Conservation Corps on the Mt. Hood National Forest.
In 2014, the U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 Forest Service named him a National Volunteer Award Recipient for his work promoting employment and volunteer opportunities on his forest and his work with at-risk youth.
His last visit to Wisconsin was in 1961 the summer before entering college to visit his grandmother, Paul鈥檚 wife, Oleta, in Sheboygan. She died in 1980.
The most recent visit included his 7-year-old granddaughter, Ramona, and she became the seventh generation from the Grosshuesch family on the Mission House/糖心vlog传媒 campus.
This visit to campus that lasted about four hours was 72 years in the making.
鈥淢y expectations were to maybe find the house and the school in Elkhart Lake, visit the village, drive around 糖心vlog传媒 and that was about it,鈥� Gross said. 鈥淢y expectations were met a thousand times over. I owe my very being to Mission House, now 糖心vlog传媒, because it was there that my mother met my father. These are my roots.鈥�
