A piece of history linked to the founding family of Provemont chugged south at 3 mph last week to its new foundation.
Built with solid bones — including studs harvested from the Schaub property and sliced to exacting two-inch by fourinch dimensions — the house formerly owned by prodigious reader and librarian Theresa Schaub was moved about onehalf mile from the north to the south end of the original homestead owned by Jacob and Marguerite Schaub.
“It only took 33 minutes to get from the old foundation to my driveway, and then four hours to get it on the foundation and nailed down,” recalled Katie Gill, who grew up within eyeshot of the home. “I thought my dad was going to cry when he saw it going down the road. All my uncles, my brother, my grandmother came over to have pizza on lawn chairs in the living room.”
Gill, a graduate of St. Mary School, was one of those hundreds of young people taken under the tutelage of Theresa, known affectionately within the parish as Miss Schaub or the Story Lady, She read every school-day morning to young students, and was remembered by family members for her gifts of books whose lessons perfectly fit recipients.
Miss Schaub earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Aquinas College and a master’s in library science from the University of Michigan. She spent 10 years at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, then 30 years responsible for the children’s literature section at Traverse City Public Library.
After retiring in 1993, Miss Schaub turned her bibliophilism toward the young people of St. Mary School and continued her fidelity to Jesus Christ at St. Mary Church.
“The kids just loved to see her coming into the school,” recalled Pat Gaudard, retired principal at St. Mary. “In all honesty, it was one of the highlights of their week. For her age, she could really relate to kids.”
The 26-foot by 32-foot home without the Schaub history is typical of its era. It was built in 1953 by the hands of Gill’s great grandfather Louis Edmund (Theresa Popp) Schaub for his son’s family. The home remained within the Schaub family through the years; Miss Schaub moved in 40 years after its construction.
Gill holds a deep understanding of her roots partly from a family lineage project completed her senior year with the help of Miss Schaub. She brought her parents, Dennis and Kim Schaub, along through her genealogy research.
“I’m from Jacob’s descendants, and this land was part of that original farm. I think it was originally 200 acres, and now it’s down to 80 acres. (Her father) found it fascinating. He didn’t know everything about the Schaubs. He would ask me, ‘Tell me that story again.’ That’s how I retained it through the years.”
The home appeared doomed not that many months ago after it was sold to Craig and Annie Okerstromlang, who planned to demolish it while building a much larger house closer to Lake Leelanau. The property borders the parking lot and lake frontage of St. Mary Church.
That’s when Gill called her grandmother, who recently had built and moved into a home along Lake Shore Drive that’s also within the original Schaub homestead.
“I wanted to know if there was any property to buy. They were going to tear down that house, but it was too nice to tear down,” Gill said.
She learned that a one-acre lot originally split off for her deceased aunt was available and that the Okertromlangs were willing to give away the home if she moved it.
Katie and Nathan Gill reside in St. Clair. She manages a Lowe’s store in Warren; Nathan is a self-employed auto detailer. They have an 8-year-old daughter, Gracie.
The plan is to slowly turn the moved structure into a second home, with family members doing much of the work. Eventually the Gills may move to Leelanau County to live fulltime.
“Our family, we’ve been here so long. When talking to my uncle, he still has the original windows. We were going to put a new beam in it, and my dad said, ‘I think we have something in the barn.’ I might not have a Schaub (last) name any more, but I don’t want to lose the history up there.
“This has always been a dream for me, and when it happened it worked out perfect,” Gill said.
