Jean Bogart, descendant of the Uhlich family
As a direct descendant of Carl Gottfried and Johanna Sophia Uhlich, I am proud and honored to have this opportunity to share some memories and express my gratitude to all the devoted men, women and children who, over the past 140 years, have nurtured and greatly expanded on the original intent of the Uhlichs -- to care for the orphans of soldiers who lost their lives in the Civil War.
I was born in 1934, and my mother died in 1936. I went to live with my maternal grandparents in Cincinnati, Ohio. My grandmother, born in Blue Island, Illinois, was a Uhlich descendant (great-granddaughter of Carl and Johanna Uhlich). In those early years, I remember my grandmother talking about her Grosmutter and Grosvater, and the Uhlich home (which today is UCAN's Therapeutic Youth Home, and I was told it was a place for children with no parents. Over the years, I didn't give the Uhlich home much thought. I had never visited it, although we made many trips to Blue Island to see relatives.
In 1956, I married my college sweetheart, and by 1964 we had three children. My husband Donald's job with Proctor & Gamble took us to Southern California, New Jersey, and finally back to Ohio in 1983. During this time geneology became our most treasured hobby and pasttime -- and the Uhlich history headed our list of priorities.
Our eldest daughter and her husband were planning a trip to Chicago that year, and I suggested they visit the Uhlich home. They did, and upon their return excitedly exclaimed that large portraits of Carl and Johanna Uhlich were hanging in the hall at the home!
In 1993 we traveled to Chicago for the single purpose of following in the footsteps of my great-great-great-grandparents, beginning with their 1844 arrival in America and ending with their deaths in 1867. We visited the Uhlich home for the first time on this trip, and I'll never forget it. It was over the Thanksgiving holiday, and shortly after we began our tour, a group of eight young men came excitedly into the building and began hugging the Uhlich staff members. These young men were college students coming "home" to the only home they had ever known.
Over the years, we have visited UCAN several times. Our youngest daughter came wtih us on one trip, and seven of our 15 grandchildren have had the pleasure of visiting.
My sincere gratitude goes out to the volunteers, staff members, charitable donors, and last but not least, to all the boys and girls and men and women who ever lived and learned at UCAN and "gave back." The generous but limited dream of Carl Gottfried and Johanna Sophia Uhlich has become a huge network of individuals determined to make a difference in the lives of those young people who need loving kindness and guidance.
Jean Bogart, 2009
To read about the history of UCAN, please click here.
