HEINRICH FAMILY

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Ruth (Moller) born 1906, Carl 1908, Walter 1910, Daniel 1912, Myrtle(Jackwitz) 1913, Samuel 1915 and Mildred (Wolter) 1917.

A short history of Mildred Meta Heinrich (Wolter) by Ron Heinrich

Mildred Heinrich, the youngest of the Heinrich siblings, was born on 14 August 1917 probably at Blenheim. (Uncle Harold did not know where his wife was born). She attended Blenheim State School.

In 1930 she with other members of her family moved to the farm at Coominya. In 1933 she moved to Kalbar to live with her parents who took up another pastoral assignment. She with her elder sister Ruth would drive their parents around the district visiting church families. One Sunday afternoon after attending the church service at Charlwood (a partner fellowship of Kalbar) Rev John fell quite ill. The car had to be stopped and he got out of the car and lent on a fence to recuperate. It was then that a cerebral hemorrhage was indicated. His health then started to decline. In 1935, Rev John concluded his ministry at Kalbar, obviously due to ill health, and moved back to Coominya. Rev John passed away in 1936 and members of the family continued to live at Coominya.

Mildred met Harold Wolter during her time at Kalbar. Harold’s other former girlfriends were quite jealous of the fact that he had found someone better than they were. Mildred used to return to Kalbar on visits and eventually succumbed to Harold’s charm. Harold asked Augustina for Mildred’s hand in marriage on the verandah of the farm house at Coominya. Augustina was sad that Millie’s father wasn’t there to interrogate Harold but Harold said she did a pretty good job herself. Harold and Millie were married on 3 April 1940 in the Tarampa Baptist Church at 11 am by Rev P J Evans.

After their marriage, they rented a farm at Morwincha for two years after which they purchased the property. Harold who is 91 still lives on the property with his cousin Lionel Wolter and his wife, Linda.

Millie worked very hard on the farm. She used to form and trample the hay stacks while Harold forked the hay. She used to end up on top of the hay stack and the only way down was to slide. Harold decided that this was not a very good idea so he bought her a ladder for her birthday so she could get down from the top of the hay stack! Millie would also help Harold cut chaff – she would work the cutter while Harold forked the hay. Millie was also a very good cook. Every Sunday she would cook a roast duck and vegetables and have enough leftovers for Monday and Tuesday! She had a great alto voice and sang in the church choir and played the organ at the Aratula Baptist Church.

Harold and Millie used to milk the cow herd by hand until 1949 when electricity was connected to the property. They then had a milking machine plant installed. One day when Harold was taking cream cans to the front gate for collection, he heard screams coming from the cow bails. He hurried back and found that Millie’s skirt had got caught in the pulley of the motor. She saved herself by reaching for the power switch and turning off the motor!

Harold’s mother used to make all of Millie’s clothes and she used to visit her in-laws, who lived on a nearby farm, by horse and slide. Millie was involved in the Womens’ Union work of the church. When Millie’s health started to decline, she used to watch TV and update Harold on the news of the day when he came in from the farm. She was also an avid AFL fan. Millie suffered from Lupus (heart disease) and associated leg ulcers. Her health further deteriorated and she passed away on 9 April 1986 at age 68.