Reiss Family Books Quilter, Granger, Grandma, Matriarch is the first of four books about the extended Reiss and Basler families who settled on a small farm in St. Clair County, Illinois in 1834 and 1839, respectively. This first book is the daily diary of third generation Katie Reiss covering 1949 through 1953. It is published first to give the reader a feel for life on the Reiss Family Farm in the German heritage of southern Illinois. Katie and husband George Reiss doubled the original Reiss/Basler farm to its current 360 acres. Relatives gather in June 2009 to celebrate 175 years of the Reiss Family Farm. The second book will be called It Takes A Matriarch and include 763 letters saved by first generation Margaret Basler Reiss Ebert from 1852 to 1888. Some letters were phonetic English but most had to be translated from "old" German. Authors were Margaret's siblings, their spouses, her children, their spouses, her grandchildren, and two friends. They mention serving in the Civil War, a friendship with John Wilkes Booth, life in St. Louis and Sacramento and Davenport, and the lost family fortune. The third book will be called The Reiss Dairy. It is a history of the Reiss Dairy in Sikeston, Missouri which was founded in 1935 by third generation John Reiss. They are famous for milk bottles featuring poems created by Sikeston citizens to promote Reiss Dairy products. The best bottles sell on eBay for over $200. The fourth book will be Family, Farming, and Freedom. It is 55 years of professional and personal writings by fourth generation Irv Reiss from 1949 to 2004. His favorite subjects were family fun and travel, restoring strip mined coal lands to productive farms, promoting individualfreedoms and responsibilities. He was my dad.

Irv and Mary Reiss (aka Dad and Mom) wrote this book as two letters per day for fifteen months from late 1943 through March 1945. Friends and relatives added more letters to bring the total to nearly 1,000. Virtually all of their letters ended with "I love you very very much" and "I miss you very very much." It's easy to empathize with their frustrations and anxieties about being separated and worried, especially with the birth and nurturing of their first child Stephen (aka "me) in June 1944. This book title of From Burma With Love is an understatment. Irv Reiss served in the US Army from Jun 27, 1941 until September 17, 1945 for a total of 4 years, 2 months, and 20 days. Foreign service in India and Burma (Myanmar) was 1 year, 1 month, and 23 days. The foreign service in Burma was very intense and is the heart of this book -- hence thename, From Burma With Love. Irv was a labor officer along the Ledo Road from August 28, 1944 until December 11, 1944. His job was to hire and feed and pay several thousand native laborers (and a few elephants) to help build that road from Ledo, India to Mongyu, Burma. Read his letter of October 7, 1944

Reiss Dairy is the third book in this series. It is a history of the Reiss Dairy in Sikeston, Missouri which was founded in 1935 by third generation John Reiss and his son-in-law, Lonnie Standley. The dairy is famous for milk bottles featuring poems created by Sikeston citizens to promote Reiss Dairy products. The best of these bottles now sell on eBay for over $200. It Takes A Matriarch was the second of four books about the extended Reiss and Basler families who settled on a small farm in St. Clair County, Illinois in 1834 and 1839, respectively. It includes 780 letters saved by first generation Margaret Basler Reiss Ebert from 1852 to 1888. Some letters were phonetic English but most had to be translated from "old" German. Authors were Margaret's siblings, their spouses, her children, their spouses, her grandchildren, and two friends. They mention serving in the Civil War, personal challenges, life in St. Louis and Sacramento and Davenport, and the lost family fortune. One author was friends with John Wilkes Booth who shot President Lincoln. Quilter, Granger, Grandma, Matriarch was the first of these four books. It is the daily diary of third generation Katie Reiss covering 1949 through 1953. It was published first to give the reader a feel for life on the Reiss Family Farm in the German heritage of southern Illinois. Katie and husband George Reiss doubled the original Reiss/Basler farm to its current 360 acres. Relatives gather for a reunion in June 2009 to celebrate 175 years of the ongoing existence of the Reiss Family Farm. Family, Farming, and Freedom will be the fourth book. It is 55 years of professional and personal writings by fourth generation Irv Reiss from 1949 to 2004. His favorite subjects were family fun and travel, restoring strip mined coal lands to productive farming, and promoting individual freedoms and responsibilities. He was my dad.

It Takes A Matriarch is the second of four books about the extended Reiss and Basler families who settled on a small farm in St. Clair County, Illinois in 1834 and 1839, respectively. It includes 780 letters saved by first generation Margaret Basler Reiss Ebert from 1852 to 1888. Some letters were phonetic English but most had to be translated from "old" German. Authors were Margaret's siblings, their spouses, her children, their spouses, her grandchildren, and two friends. They mention serving in the Civil War, personal challenges, life in St. Louis and Sacramento and Davenport, and the lost family fortune. One author was friends with John Wilkes Booth who shot President Lincoln. Quilter, Granger, Grandma, Matriarch was the first of these four books. It is the daily diary of third generation Katie Reiss covering 1949 through 1953. It was published first to give the reader a feel for life on the Reiss Family Farm in the German heritage of southern Illinois. Katie and husband George Reiss doubled the original Reiss/Basler farm to its current 360 acres. Relatives gather for a reunion in June 2009 to celebrate 175 years of the ongoing existence of the Reiss Family Farm. The Reiss Dairy will be the third book. It is a history of the Reiss Dairy in Sikeston, Missouri which was founded in 1935 by third generation John Reiss. It is famous for milk bottles featuring poems created by Sikeston citizens to promote Reiss Dairy products. The best of these bottles sell on eBay for over $200. Family, Farming, and Freedom will be the fourth book. It is 55 years of professional and personal writings by fourth generation Irv Reiss from 1949 to 2004. His favorite subjects were family fun and travel, restoring strip mined coal lands to productive farming, and promoting individual freedoms and responsibilities. He was my dad.

Reiss Family Books Quilter, Granger, Grandma, Matriarch is the first of four books about the extended Reiss and Basler families who settled on a small farm in St. Clair County, Illinois in 1834 and 1839, respectively. This first book is the daily diary of third generation Katie Reiss covering 1949 through 1953. It is published first to give the reader a feel for life on the Reiss Family Farm in the German heritage of southern Illinois. Katie and husband George Reiss doubled the original Reiss/Basler farm to its current 360 acres. Relatives gather in June 2009 to celebrate 175 years of the Reiss Family Farm. The second book will be called It Takes A Matriarch and include 763 letters saved by first generation Margaret Basler Reiss Ebert from 1852 to 1888. Some letters were phonetic English but most had to be translated from "old" German. Authors were Margaret's siblings, their spouses, her children, their spouses, her grandchildren, and two friends. They mention serving in the Civil War, a friendship with John Wilkes Booth, life in St. Louis and Sacramento and Davenport, and the lost family fortune. The third book will be called The Reiss Dairy. It is a history of the Reiss Dairy in Sikeston, Missouri which was founded in 1935 by third generation John Reiss. They are famous for milk bottles featuring poems created by Sikeston citizens to promote Reiss Dairy products. The best bottles sell on eBay for over $200. The fourth book will be Family, Farming, and Freedom. It is 55 years of professional and personal writings by fourth generation Irv Reiss from 1949 to 2004. His favorite subjects were family fun and travel, restoring strip mined coal lands to productive farms, promoting individualfreedoms and responsibilities. He was my dad.