2000/09/02
Dear Family and Friends:
Hallo! Hello! ¡Saludos!
Since my last message, we have "discovered" two Riefkohls living in Georgia: Jeannette and José. Jeannette is a Spanish teacher and José is a psychiatrist. Welcome to the Ring!
José was kind enough to share a short biography and an anecdote with us. Here they are:
"I am José R. Riefkohl. I am 34 y/o and live in Atlanta, GA. I am married to Colette and we have 3 kids, Andres (6 y/o) & twin daughters Paula & Monica (5 y/o). I was born in Puerto Rico in 1966. I graduated from the University of Puerto Rico and then went to Cornell University (New York) to do my specialty and research in psychiatry. I work at the Atlanta Veterans Hospital as a psychiatrist and I am also and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Emory Medical School. My father is Rafael G. Riefkohl and my grandfather was Jesús Riefkohl. My brother is Rafael J. Riefkohl (45-50 y/o) and lives in PR; he is not internet active."
"A funny story about how big the family is. During college I worked for a tourism company in Puerto Rico. I was at the airport and a little kid came and stared at my name badge. He went running to his mother; she came over and asked me if I was a Riefkohl. I said yes and she answered "Me too". They were Riefkohls from Mexico. I got busy and could not talk to them again, but it was a great feeling to find family members that you do not know."
We also heard from Herbert Riefkohl. Herbert now lives in Florida. Here is what Herbert had to tell us:
"I am---like Ernesto-- a grandson of Luis Riefkohl, on the maternal side. But I'm a heck of a lot older because I was born closer to his dad Ernesto, my favorite uncle. In fact, I have children closer to Ernesto's age than I care to admit. I am now retired, and have been for the past decade, from the Voice of America and the Foreign Service. I studied in New York City--City College of New York and Columbia University (M.A.) and some advanced studies at the University of Madrid, when I was serving as press attaché at the US embassy. Later I served in Milan, Italy as Consul for Public Affairs, but most of my work was in broadcasting, except for short teaching stints."
We hope that Herbert will share with us some anecdotes of when he lived in Europe. Please send us more of your Riefkohl anecdotes!
In future editions of this newsletter I'd like to include a tribute to Riefkohls who are no longer with us. Your piece doesn't have to be too long or fancy. Please share some family stories that have been passed down from generation to generation.
Visit www.eng.goettingen.de for information about Göttingen, the home of our common ancestor, George Daniel.
Riefkohl Trivia: In future newsletters we will include trivia questions about the Riefkohls. We'll use the genealogy found in www.familytreemaker.com/users/r/i/e/Ernesto-Riefkohl/index.html Please submit your questions!
Well, this is all for this newsletter. Our family is headed for Safford, Arizona to spend the holidays with my father-in-law. For those in the USA, have a happy Labor Day Week-end!