Person Sheet

NameMary Schepper
BirthJan. 28, 1899, Vienna, Austria
OccupationFor a time she was a cleaning lady St. Mary’s Catholic Church rectory in New Britain, Conn.
DeathJuly 7, 1961, Garfield, NJ
BurialCalvary Cemetery, Paterson, NJ
FatherJosef Schepper (1870-?)
MotherMaria Szakasits (1865-?)
Short bioMary came to the US in 1912 at age 13 with an aunt, Kristina Szakasits, her mother’s youngest sister. The National Archives came up empty on two requests for her passenger ship records, and ellisisland.org similarly comes up empty (though we may try again with a different spelling of her last name). Mary lived briefly in New Rochelle, NY, perhaps with a relative, before moving to Passaic, NJ. Two of her brothers also immigrated to the US, while three others remained in Austria. When Mary was 2 years old, the Scheppers moved from Vienna to Punitz in Burgenland (now southeastern Austria) near Güssing, according to her niece, Mary Schepper Klucsarics. The Austrian government ordered the remaining family members to change their name from Schepper to Sepper and finally Seper in the 1930s. (On Ancestry.com, her last name is listed as “Schepper Schaeper.”) Mary would sometimes say she came from Hungary, and indeed Burgenland was formed from a slice of Hungary following WWI.
Spouses
BirthJan. 14, 1879, Finsterwalde, Germany
DeathAug. 25, 1967, Middletown, Conn.
FatherJohann Friedrich Sporn (1835-1901)
MotherJohanne Wilhelmine Barthel (1847-1898)
MarriageOct. 6, 1918, Parsonage of St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, New Rochelle, NY
ChildrenErnest “Ernie” (1926-2010)
 Mildred (“Midgie”) (1924-1987)
 Lillian Elizabeth (1922-)
 Helen (1921-1995)
 Gladys (1919-2005)