updated 03/25/2020
updated 03/25/2020
"Resident of the
Month"
Interviews featuring residents at the Postville Good Samaritan
home.
- Z -
Transcribed by S. Ferrall for Allamakee co.
IAGenWeb
Any notes following the biographies were added by S. Ferrall.
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Marguerite (Wirz) Zurbriggen
The spotlight this month at the Good Samaritan Center focuses on a busy little lady named Marguerite Zurbriggen who enjoys reading, writing letters, playing cards and knitting. She is very proud of the blue ribbon she won at the fair for her knitted slippers.
Marguerite was born in Bern, Switzerland, January 11, 1891 and was married to Mattias Zurbriggen in London, England, April 10, 1910. She was employed as a secretary and Mattias as a chef in a hotel.
In 1913 they came to America and settled on a farm near Clermont, near her sister, Mrs. Ezra Rowland.
The Zurbriggens started a bakery in Elgin in 1926 and moved to Sumner in 1941, living there until Mr. Zurbriggen became a resident of the Center here in 1972. Mrs. Zurbriggen then made her home with the Roy Knights until joining her husband in May of this year.
Her children are: Mrs. Roy (Elaine) Knight, Postville; Gordon, Cedar Falls; Paul of Elgin. A daughter, Mrs. William (Edna) Weibel is deceased.
~Postville Herald, Wednesday, September 10, 1975 (column: Resident of the Month, Good Samaritan Center, Postville, Iowa)
~Marguerite Zurbriggen obituary
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Mattia Zurbriggen
Mattia Zurbriggen was born in northern Italy August 24, 1890, the only son of a world reknown mountain guide who led expeditions in many parts of the world and gained the distinction of being the first man to reach the top of the highest mountain in the Andes in South America.
He was educated in a private school in Stresa, northern Italy close to the Swiss Alps. Because he did not like the exclusive school which his father insisted he attend, he decided to make his own way in the world and walked to Switzerland, a stretch of several kilometers over very rough territory, without telling anyone except his mother. He was only 11 years old and found odd jobs to do enroute to Switzerland.
He learned to be a baker and went on to England where he became a first class baker in a large hotel in London. He met his wife-to-be, a secretary in an employment agency in London, and they were married in 1910. When war threatened they came to America with their young daughter, born in London in 1913.
The decided to learn farming though never having seen a farm. They enjoyed working with the good earth, found it honorable and were proud to share in the work. Then an opportunity came to go back to baking. He operated a bakery first in Elgin, then in Sumner, which was known as the Sumner Bakery. He operated this bakery for 30 years, served three times as mayor, then was Justice of the Peace two terms, finding it necessary to resign from public office due to ill health. He was active in Rotary, was a delegate to Rotary International in Philadelphia and again to the international convention in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Mrs. Roy Knight, Postville; Paul Zurbriggen, Elgin and Gordon Zurbriggen, Cedar Falls are the living children. Mrs. Zurbriggen makes her home with the Roy Knights.
~Postville Herald, Wednesday, October 17, 1973 (column: Resident of the Month, Good Samaritan Center, Postville, Iowa)
~Mattia Zurbriggen's obituary
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