Thusnelda Weniger

Thusnelda (Nelda) Beicker was born in Seguin, Texas to Hugo and Wanda Beicker on September 21, 1933. She was welcomed by a brother, Leroy Beicker of Seguin. For years when she was growing up, her mother, Wanda, did laundry for many people in the Seguin area. Her father, Hugo, owned and operated Hi-Way Garage, which was originally located on the corner of Kingsbury and Austin Street (known as four-corners) in Seguin. He later moved the business to 557 West Kingsbury Street.

At the age of 4, on one of their trips, her father was driving and her mother was next to him and she was sitting next to the door in her father’s wrecker. When they drove by four corners (now referred to as the corner of Austin & Kingsbury Street), the door flew open and out she fell. The next thing she remembered was being swooped up by Mr. Herman Bear, who carried her to safety. She was shaken up but not hurt. That was a very busy intersection back then. Had this happened today, she would have been secured in a seat belt and not sitting next to the door.

At the age of ten (10), her uncle, Alfred Henke, was in need of help by someone to drive the tractor at the farm. He let her help out but she really would not exactly call it driving the tractor from one pile of corn to another. She was instructed to wait until her Uncle yelled to go forward. When he yelled, it would startle her and she would choke the tractor every time. When she finally got it started, the tractor would jump from one pile to another.

Nelda attended middle school at Mary B. Erskin School. I’m sure there are several people, still living today, that remember her riding a Motorbike to school. There are also a number of people who saw her pushing that bike home every day. Since she said she knew very little about the motor on the motorcycle, someone would always sabotage her bike so she ended up pushing it home every day.

When Nelda was 14, she got her driver’s license. At the age of 16 she got her commercial license. Now, the age for obtaining a regular drivers license is 18. She drove anything that her father had and it did not matter what it looked like.

In the summer of 1946, she got a job at the Palace Theater in the concession stand. She continued working after school relieving people for their dinner hour. She worked both at the Palace and the Texas Theater doing all kinds of jobs. When the Dixie Drive Inn opened, she worked there in the concession stand and also drove the little train that children loved to ride. When no one was available, she became the engineer as well as the cashier if necessary. She worked for Mr. H.A.Daniels for over 4-years at the theaters.

During high school, Nelda worked for Reichmans Department Store. She worked here for one (1) year. In order to graduate from High School early, she went to summer school for three (3) years. She graduated in 1951 from Seguin High School.

On May 5, 1952, Nelda began working for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. She worked until her retirement in 1971. On her time off, she helped her father with his wrecker service. She also helped with hauling cotton bails from various gins to the depot.

In October 30, 1955, she married Frank Lee Weniger. They were blessed with two (2) children. Russell K. Weniger and Wanda Sue (Susie) Saengerhausen. Her beloved husband, Frank, of over 44 years passed away in July of 2000. She has four grandchildren. Travis Cole Saengerhausen, Melisa Dawn Saengerhausen, Kristen Rene Weniger and Layne Andrew Weniger. She also has one great grandchild, Kolby Tex Saengerhausen.

Nelda had many hobbies including oil painting, gardening, painting flowerpots and light switch plates. One of her most enjoyable times was spending time as a volunteer at the Silver Center in the coffee shop. She met so many nice people while working there and had a chance to get re-acquainted with people she had known for many years.

Nelda was confirmed at Emanuel’s Lutheran Church. She joined the Ladies Aid of Emanuel’s Church and had been a member of the ladies auxiliary of the Seguin Fire Department over 30 years.

It’s amazing how things have changed. At my age, I can say that I remember the good old days. Of course, today I have a lot of difficulty remembering from one minute to the next or if the good old days were all that good. I sure would hate to live without all the modern conveniences that have come to be much of our lives these days. By the same token, I don’t thing that I would change my yesterdays all that much. Everything then was centered around family. I can remember going to the picture show every Friday night. Now they call it going to the movies. The Texas Theater had serials that had cliffhangers. These made you go to the movies the next week just to see if the hero was saved from doom.

Nelda believed that the good old days were good to her. She believed that she had many positive experiences. She believed that she made a lot of mistakes. Her father always told her, a mistake is something you learn from and you don’t to them again. She always said that she should have learned many lessons because she said she was certainly not perfect.

During the last year and a half, Nelda began living at Guadalupe Valley Nursing Home. She made many friends there. No matter how much pain she was in or bad she felt, she would always have a smile on her face. Everyone soon nicknamed her “Winnie”. She did not want to be called “Mrs. Weniger” so the name “Winnie” fit her well. They also had another nickname of “Ice Princes” since she loved to have ice to eat, morning, noon and night. They soon found out she was a night owl. She would keep the staff there on their toes and in stitches all night signing. One song was “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”. Another was “How much is that Doggie in the Window”. The staff there would even chime in when she sang this one by singing “Woof-Woof”. She would also call “Alice”, who was a nurse on staff at GVNC. She would say “Alice, Alice….are you there”… Alice soon told Nelda that she adopted her as her new “Mom”. Everyone seemed to be family to her. She even told her daughter to make sure everyone there knew how much she loved them.