Johann Leonhard Daib Family Collection

Johann Leonhard Daib was born on 13 July 1830 in Niederrimbach, Kingdom Wuerttemberg, Germany. He emigrated in 1849 and reached New York on 15 July. He graduated from the Fort Wayne seminary of the Missouri Synod in March 1854 and received his first call to Saint Emanuel Lutheran Church in Cicero Park (Arcadia), Indiana. He married Elise Zelt on 8 January 1856. The couple had twelve children, nine of which lived to adulthood. The names, birth dates and other pertinent information about the children of J. L Daib can be extracted on page 14 of the Daib Family History and Genealogy.

Johann’s second call brought him to Ohio where he accepted a call to Trinity in Sugar Grove and Saint Jacobus in Hocking in April 1856. He served there for 7½ years. In December 1863 he went to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he served Immanuel for 7 years, organizing several congregations. On 18 December 1870 Johann was installed in Fremont, Wisconsin (then known as Caledonia), where he remained until 1872. Another more urgent call came from Trinity in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which he followed in August 1872. He served there for 10 years. From 1882 until July 1883 he served congregations in Westfield and Chesterton, Indiana. On 15 April 1888 he resigned his ministry at Zion Lutheran Church, Decatur (Friedheim), Indiana, for health reasons and died on 31 December 1894.

Samuel Wilhelm Hermann Daib (“Hermann”) was born on 26 August 1862 in Town Bern, Ohio, the fourth child of Johann Leonhard Daib and his wife Elise. Herman attended Christian day schools throughout his childhood and entered the ninth grade of Concordia College, Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1875. He entered Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, in September 1881 and received his graduation diploma in June 1884. His first call was to a dual parish in Wisconsin — Saint Paul in Wittenberg and Saint John in Tigerton.

On 24 April 1888 Hermann married Hermine Dicke. They had five children: Herbert Leonhard (1889), Kurt Bjorn (1893), Eleanor Katherine (1898), Margaret Anne (1902), and Walter Carl (1904). In July 1888 Hermann accepted a call to Saint John Lutheran Church, Merrill Wisconsin. Under his leadership many building improvements and other changes were implemented. In 1906 he was elected president of the Wisconsin District. He served in this capacity until 1936. Hermann also founded the Wisconsin Church Mutual Fire Insurance Association and held the presidency until his death on 29 September 1941.

Herbert Leonhard Daib was born on 8 March 1889 in Merrill, Wisconsin, as the first child of S. W. Herman and Hermine Daib. He married Helen Louise Capelle on 28 August 1923. The couple had three children: Marcella Ann (1924), Herbert Luther (28 May 1928) and Eunice Margaret (23 September 1931). Herbert served Saint John Lutheran Church (Casey, Iowa) from 1923 to 1948 and Saint John (Sanborn, Iowa) from 1948 to 1965.

Kurt Bjorn Wilhelm Daib was born in February 1893 in Merrill, Wisconsin, as the second child of Herman and Hermine Daib. In 1922 he graduated from the seminary and accepted his first and only call to Zion Lutheran Church (Dexter, Iowa). Kurt married Ida Bertha Bergman on 6 September 1922. They had four children: Kathryn Eleanor (1924), Leonhard Georg Hermann (4 August 1925), Margaret Hermine Maria (27 April 1928), Christine Ida Emma (11 July 1934). Kurt died on 11 April 1952 in Dexter, Iowa, where he was a pastor for 30 years.

Walter Carl Theodore Daib was born on 4 March 1904 as the third child of S. W. Hermann Daib and his wife Hermine. He graduated from Concordia Seminary, Saint Louis, in 1927 and accepted his first call in August 1927 in Ontario, Canada. He served congregations in Baden and Hamburg until 1932. Walter then served the Trinity congregation in Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, New York, from 1932 to 1941. He married Marie Haass on 10 July 1938. The couple had no children. During the Second World War Walter served as a military chaplain in the United States, Italy, North Africa, Sicily, France and Germany. From 1946 to 1949 he served on the LCMS Board for Missions as European Representative. His last call was to Saint Jacobus in Woodside, New York, from 1949 to 1971. He died on 16 June 1982.