Helene Strybing
Helene Strybing (born June 21, 1845 in Helstorf near Hanover as Frederike Sophie Helene Jordan ; † December 24, 1926 in San Francisco , California) was a German-American who gained fame through her testamentary donation for the arboretum in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco .
In the Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, south of San Francisco, Section L, Lot 172, a memorial for Christian and Helene Strybing can still be seen today. The tree Leptospermum scoparium Helene Strybing was named in honor of Helene Strybing . In English it is also called Helene Strybing New Zealand Tea Tree or New Zealand Tea Tree .
Life
Her father, Ernst Christian Friedrich Jordan married to Bertha Marie Juliane Jordan geb. Baldmus was a Protestant pastor in Helstorf from 1838 to 1853. Then he moved with his family to Römstedt , where he worked as a pastor until shortly before his death. In her will in 1926, Helene Strybing left money so that a glass window and a plaque in honor of her father could be installed in the Protestant church in Römstedt.
In 1865 she married the German immigrant Christian H. Strybing (Strübing) in San Francisco, who was born on July 6, 1821 in Gnoien , Mecklenburg and arrived in San Francisco in 1849 at the beginning of the California gold rush . He died in San Francisco on July 21, 1895. Strybing first worked in construction and then later in the grocery trade. Even later he became active in the import business, where he imported tobacco, German wines, snuff, clothing and alcoholic beverages, stockings, etc. After the marriage, the couple lived at 1212 Mason Street, San Francisco. The marriage remained childless.
In 1908 Helene Strybing donated money for the stained glass window in honor of Christian Strybing above the altar of St. Matthew's Church in San Francisco, which can still be seen today.
Strybing altar window in St. Matthew Church in San Francisco
Roll of honor for Christian and Helene Strybing in the Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco
Tomb of Christian and Helene Strybing in Cypress Lawn Cemetery in Colma near San Francisco.
Tomb of Christian H. and Helene Strybing in Cypress Lawn Cemetery
On December 24, 1926, Helene Strybing died of heart failure. In her will, she left money to build the arboretum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The donation in 1939 was approximately $ 200,000. She also left money for her three siblings living in Germany and $ 3,000 for the Evangelical Church in Römstedt. The Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish orphanages, as well as the San Francisco Association for the Blind , received $ 1,000 each, and the German Red Cross received $ 3,000 to help poor children. Charities in San Francisco such as the General German Women's Aid Association, an old people's home, the Salvation Army, the Ev.-Luth. St. Matthew's Church and other organizations that care for the sick, children, and animals received $ 2,000 each.
literature
- Günther Marr: History of the parish Römstedt and its pastors . Uelzen: Lower Saxony book printing company, 1960.
- Daniel Noble Klinck [Ed.]: The Legacy of the Strybings: Pioneers in the Clipper Ship Trade between New York and San Francisco . Louisville, Kentucky: 2007.
Web links
- Cypress Lawn Memorial Park website
- Website of the San Francisco Botanical Garden at Strybing Arboretum
- Leptospermum scoparium Helene Strybing
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Strybing, Helene |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Jordan, Frederike Sophie Helene |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German philanthropist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 21, 1845 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Helstorf near Hanover |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 24, 1926 |
| Place of death | San Francisco , California |