Intro

It all began a long time ago, in 1881, when our ancestors Frank P. Rumreich and his wife Marie brought their five children across a continent, an ocean, and another continent to settle in America. Frank P. Rumreich traveled with his family for months by covered wagon until he stopped on a hill by the Red River Valley in the northeastern corner of Dakota Territory and said, “Here I’ll stay.” It was June 4, a Wednesday.

Our ancestors would go on to create the town of Pisek, which is nestled in the top right corner of present-day North Dakota. Frank P. Rumreich’s fourth child, Frank W. Rumreich, had six children. One of these children, Frank T. Rumreich, would name his first son after his father. The young Frank W. Rumreich would go on to marry Pat Jagiello and have four children. Their first child, Mark, is my father. This is my story about my journey through time with my dad, Aunt Donna, her sons Nathan and Kyle, and my great Aunt Mary. But it is also the story of all the Rumreichs who have traveled this path before us, starting with the man who looked out at the land below from the top of a hill and proclaimed, “Here I’ll stay.”