ROMBAUER-BECKER FAMILY

Irma von Starkloff Rombauer, cookbook author, was born in St. Louis Mo., on October 30, 1877, the daughter of Emma (Kuhlmann) von Starkloff and Max von Starkloff . She was raised on the German south side of St. Louis and spent the years from 1889 until 1894 in Bremen, Germany, where her father was American consul. She studied at Washington University's School of Fine Arts (1897) and married Edgar Rombauer , a lawyer, on October 14, 1899. They had two children, Marion, born on January 2, 1903, and Edgar Jr.("Put"), born on August 15, 1907.

ISR had deep roots among the German families of St. Louis and remained proud of her German heritage, but moved outside these circles to join the cultural Wednesday Club, and the Unitarian Women's Alliance . In 1925 the whole family travelled and lived in Europe; Put attended school in Lausanne and Marion studied movement and dance in Munich. Edgar Rombauer Sr., who was subject to depression all his life, recovered his equilibrium for a time, but committed suicide in 1930.

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