Marianne Schoenholzer

Before Otto von Crippe worked at the Schlitz factory in Milwaukee he was in the service....US Army and spent some time in Germany.   There he met the lady of his dreams, Marianne Schoenholzer.  You see Marianne worked for the military and provided housing for officers abroad,  It was when Otto was reassigned and needed housing when they first met.  You could say it was love at first sight....well at least for Otto.

Marriane wanted nothing to do with him. She had heard from  others in the commissary that Otto had a girlfriend back home in Wisconsin. Nuff said.

But Otto persisted and after two years, with the girlfriend dismissed, Marianne and he were dating. Otto being the consummate romantic, insisted they get married.  It was a grand wedding.  Otto spent his entire savings on the wedding.  Okay in this day and age there are fancier weddings, but forty years ago this was a dandy.

Otto & Marianne Wedding

But alas all good things must come to an end.  After only 10 months of marriage, Otto and Marianne decided it was best they go there own ways.  Otto got into the beer business after his discharge and Marianne stayed with the military until just last year when she moved to Florida with her black BMW 5 Series which she keeps spotless.

 Since Marianne is Billy's step mom (its the Boy she never had) both she and I are on Billy's Facebook page and when she saw that I also had a property in Florida  she contacted me via a Facebook  message and we found out we were virtual neighbors.  With the help of my GPS, I found out she was just a short drive from where I live.  Small world !

Marianne at Work

Being a good German girl, Marianne proposed that I stop by for breakfast.  Breakfast is my favorite meal so I took her up on her offer.  Marianne's  kitchen is big enough to feed an army.  She had eggs, bratwurst, shinken, weinerschnitzel, kuchen, katofel und saft. For a short instance, I thought I was teleported to one  of the colony restaurants back home.  She even provided the morning paper.  Thanks Marianne, and I will relay the message to  Billy.  I'm sure he will be excited to know.

Marianne's Kitchen

Marianne Cooking

Brass Monkey Alert

To say its been cold would be an understatement. Billy's regulators are sluggish and ice builds up very quickly on the inside of the lung. He has doubled up on blankets when he goes outside to watch Otto shovel the snow. Currently here in Iowa its 7 degrees Fahrenheit.

Happy Hanukkah !

Billy's dad Otto Von Crippe reminds me that he is Jewish and was a little bit offended by the recent Christmas Greeting and asked for equal time. Priscilla got in the act, too.

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Brian & Sylvia

Brian is a motorhead. When he was young he had a 55 Plymouth. It had a fancy, custom paintjob and had the signature smoking woodpecker decals on the side.The "smoker" was on the fender behind the front wheelwell. There were flames on the hood...or bonnet, depending upon which side of the pond you originate. This infatuation with MOPARs would continue into adulthood.


Sylvia wore poodle skirts and roller skates. She used empty orange juice cans as hair rollers. She had stylish red glasses long before Sally Jesse Raphael thought about them. She had saddle shoes and a kerchief and she was way cool. To say she was the the school hottie would be an understatement.

They were sweethearts at Pasadena High School. Brian would pick up Sylvia in his 'peckermobile' and they would be off to the local A & W drive in for a soda and maybe smoke a fag or two. Brian was the football star and was head Bulldog. They were meant for each other.

Brian & Sylvia had a love child.
They were both still in high school
when the 'blessed event' was conceived. Getting married was really not in the cards. It was to be decreed that the child would be given up for adoption.

What does this have to do with Billy? That child was a fine looking young boy which was 'named' baby boy Benjamin....but he would very quickly be adopted by Ferdinand and Henrietta von Crippe and they would rename him "Otto".

So now you know the rest of the story.








Many years later, Billy would be on a "Make A Wish" trip to DisneyWorld and
Otto and Priscilla would run into into Brian & Sylvia at Space Mountain. It truly is a small world after all! You just can't make this stuff up.

Billy's Cousin from Germany sent a video

Otto Von Crippe has a brother, Heinrich who still lives in Germany. His son Gunther and his friend Rainer are practical jokers. They have a Japanese video camera (don't we all) and they like to set up jokes and make a tape. Gunther is the one with the banana.


Billy thought this one was hilarious. But you decide for yourself.