German Obituary Translation Help - Jacob Fey- Bessarabia>North Dakota

Question

I have uploaded a German Obituary to Jacob Fey's profile.  I would appreciate help with its translation into English.

Thank you so much in advance,  I so appreciate the German Translation Team!!  Your help is invaluable in the development of German profiles on Wikitree.

Carrie

Answer 1

Brother Jakob Fey was born 22 March 1874 in Klistich, south Russia, and died 6 December 1952 at home after five years of suffering, at the age of 78 years, 8 months and 14 days. At the age of 15 years he came with his parents to America and settled with them in North Dakota, a few miles east of the Berlin Baptist Church. In the year 1897 he entered holy matrimony with Christina Heller. This marriage the Lord blessed with eight children. One of them preceded the father as an infant. In 1925 the Lord also took his wife into eternity. After a year of deep loneliness Brother Fey married for a second time, this time with Julia Grozer, who stood loyally by his side and nursed him lovingly during his long suffering. Our brother turned to God at the age of 16 years and in 1892 was baptised by Preacher Domke and added to the congregation. He was a loyal child of God and always devoted to his congregation. His passing is mourned by: his dear spouse, three sons: Albert of Sedonia, ND, Theodor of Kulm, ND, Jakob of Lodi, CA; four daughters: Mrs. Martha Schlenker of Kulm, ND, Mrs. Magdalena Wolf of Kulm, ND, Mrs. Hulda Meidinger of Fredonia, ND, Mrs. Rosie Wolf of Fredonia, ND; a stepdaughter, Mrs. Kathryn Gieser of Hankinson, ND, a brother, Philip Fey of Kulm, ND, two half-sisters, Mrs. Johanna Meidinger of Lehr, ND, Mrs. Lydia König of Richmond, CA; a step-sister, Mrs. Maria Wolf of Kulm, ND; 23 grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and many other relatives, his valued community/congregation and many friends. The signer, former preacher of the congregation, and Preacheer Jorgenson of the Assembly of God congregation in Kulm, spoke words of comfort at two large memorial assemblies.

    Fredonia, ND [signed by] Paul T. Hunsicker

Answer 2

I'll try in the morning, but his LNAB is wrong: It should be Jakob Feh, per the article, which starts:

Our Brother Jakob Feh was . . .

Comments

Actually, I believe that article does spell it "Fey" - the "y" in the old Gothic script looks similar to an "h", but you will note that the left vertical stroke doesn't extend as high as in the "h" in the word "Jahren" in the fifth line.

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The modern German name Fey was originally Feÿ, until about 1790-1800 when so much was suddenly modernized.
The handwritten letter y with two dots above it (alt-0255 on a Windows keyboard), is actually a ligature, two joined letters, and the letters are i and j. The written name Feÿ is the same as the typeset or printed name Feij.
The letter is called "y-dieresis"; the dots are not an umlaut.
Today Feij is a relatively common name in the Netherlands, and "ij" is considered in the Dutch language to be a single consonant even though it is made up of two letters. A Dutch genealogist born Feij confirmed to me that her family name was formerly handwritten as Feÿ.
As is common with so many names, most people who wrote the name into a document in past centuries were clerks or clergy who wrote what they were hearing, so Feÿ appears in handwritten documents as Vey, Veigt, Feit, Feig, Fah, Feh, etc. In Holland there are people named Fooy who I believe were originally Feÿ. There is a complex land transfer document in the archives at Frederick, Maryland, apparently compiled from several originals, that spells my early relative Michael Feÿ's name six different ways.

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Thanks, David!  I knew the Dutch "ij" but didn't know it existed in German.

Answer 3

Thank you An Anonymous for the translation of the obituary!  It will definitely help with developing and connecting his profile. 

Danke shön!