Thierstein, Friederich Novalis (1908-1926)

Christlicher Bundesbote obituary: 1926 Sep 30 p. 7

Birth date: 1908 May 21

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1926 Sep 22 p. 1

Frederick Novalis Thierstein

Friedrich Thierstein, originally the son of Christian Thierstein and Lena nee Tschantz, was born near Bowil, Canton Berne, Switzerland, May 21, 1908. His mother though a healthy woman died a few days after his birth, while his father was in failing health. When Prof. Thierstein accompanied by Mrs. Thierstein went to Berne to study in the fall of 1908 and lter [sic] made visits in the neighborhood from which his family had migrated to the U.S. in 1883, they found little "Fritzie" there in a neglected condition, and as they had no children of their own the little fellow found his way into their hearts, adn they adopted him, giving him his second name Novalis by which he has since been known.

Novalis received his elementary education in the public schools of Effingham, Kansas, and Bluffton, OHIO, where Dr. Thierstein served as principal of the county high school and member of a college faculty respectively. In the fall of 1921 the family moved to Newton, Kansas. Dr. Thierstein to join the faculty of Bethel College and Novalis entering Bethel Academy as a freshman, graduating therefrom in 1925, and entering college last fall at the age of seventeen.

Though Novalis had been a bit