Otto Ferdinand Doerr, 1904–1980

Otto Doerr was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and was the sixth of fourteen children born to Minna Alma Maschker and Otto Ludweg Doerr. Alma and Otto Doerr were immigrants from Marburg-Biedenkoff, Hesse, Germany. They married in 1895 in Jefferson County, Ohio, and migrated to Oklahoma where they raised their fourteen children from 1896 to the 1920s.

Otto Ferdinand Doerr arrived in St. Louis in the 1920s. He was baptized and confirmed on 30 March 1925 at Ebenezer Lutheran Church and resided at 726 Thrush Avenue. Otto’s father passed in 1925 in St. Louis, and his mother, Alma, in 1951. They are buried at Bellefontaine Cemetery.

Otto worked for the railroads. He married Helen Doris Chase on 12 November 1932 in Alton, Illinois. Helen was born in 1905 at 4328 Chouteau, where she lived with her parents and her brother Marcellus, born in 1908. Helen and Otto were not blessed with any children. In 1935, Helen and Otto vacationed in Colorado and in 1937, California. Helen and Otto loved to fish and went on fishing adventures to Quincy, where Helen’s grandparents had the Chase family farm. They loved to escape to Bull Shoals and Salat’s Fishing Resort outside of Theodosia, Missouri.

Otto and Helen belonged to the Memorial Presbyterian and Kingsland Memorial Churches. They lived at 6835 Melrose in University City, along with Helen’s mother, Minnie (Steiert) Chase, who passed in 1950. Eventually, Helen and Otto retired to 9440 Guthrie where Otto passed in 1980. Helen resided on Guthrie until 1989, when Helen moved to Southgate off Telegraph Road in Oakville until her passing in 1997. Otto and Helen Doerr are buried at Sunset Memorial Park with Helen’s parents, her brother, Marcellus, and his wife Agnes Madeline (Ohmer) Chase.

Written by Mike Chase
August 2022

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