FOUNDERS DAY

Meet the 2026 Pioneer Spirit Award Honorees

Evelyn Weinheimer

Evelyn is a native of Fredericksburg and a fifth or sixth generation, depending on which of the founding families she descends. She was born in Fredericksburg, Texas in 1944 and graduated from Fredericksburg High School in 1962. 

 

Evelyn received her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from North Texas State University in Denton in 1965 and her master’s degree in Elementary Education from Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos in 1995. 

 

She taught upper elementary education grades both in Austin and Fredericksburg Independent School Districts for a total of 23 years. 

 

In 2007, she worked as a part-time travel counselor for the Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor Bureau. Evelyn volunteered for the Gillespie County Historical Society for years before she was recruited to work part-time for the Society in 2008.  Since that time, she has worn many hats for the organization, Educator, Tour Guide, Archivist, and Historian to name a few.   

 

Evelyn was part of the creative team that brought both the First and Second 50 Years books to life and to the Museum Store shelves. Her fingerprints can be seen all over Fredericksburg where images from the Historical Society’s collection have been curated and sold for business display.  Some recent locations are First United Bank and Pioneer Bar.  

 

She was a lead team member for the reinterpretation of the Vereins Kirche Museum project in 2020, helping take the iconic building of Fredericksburg from a hodgepodge experience to an interpretive experience that would make any historical institution proud. 

 

GCHS Archival Volunteers 

This group of faithful volunteers spends nearly 700 hours annually to sort, catalog and preserve thousands of collection pieces that are now in the care of the Historical Society. In addition, they have transcribed personal and family oral histories so they are not lost. 

 

Joan Schmidt Bonn

Joan was born and raised in Fredericksburg, a descendant of the original settling pioneers.  She has lived here her whole life except to continue her education at The University of Texas after graduating from St. Mary’s High School. She moved back home to Fredericksburg to marry a hometown man, Terry Bonn, also a descendant of the first pioneers, and became active in the church and the community. Joan became a volunteer for the Pioneer Museum in the early 2000’s after visiting a historic display set up at the Gillespie County Fair. It consisted of unidentified people in pictures of historic Fredericksburg, and she recognized many of the faces and locations. Since then, she has spent her time volunteering at the Museum assisting with identifying people and places in the archives using her knowledge and network of family and friends in the Fredericksburg community.  “As long as there are old photos that need things identified, her job is secure.”

 

Ruby Lee Crenwelge Clark

Ruby Lee was born in Gillespie County in 1945 and descends from four first settlers of Gillespie County. She grew up in the Pecan Creek Community and attended Pecan Creek Country School, then Fredericksburg public schools. Ruby Lee co-founded and is a member of Fredericksburg Art Guild and Die Künstler Art Group. She has supported history and art in Gillespie County and served on the Board of the Gillespie County Historical Society in the 1980s. Ruby Lee has volunteered at the Historical Society for 12 years, painted projects at the Society, co-painted a mural at the Gillespie County Fair Grounds Exhibition Hall and helped repaint the Maibaum or May Pole at Marktplatz three times and served on the 150th and 175th anniversary committees.

 

Joan “Jo” Jacoby Jenschke

Jo was born in Keidel Memorial Hospital, and is a fourth generation Jacoby, and sixth generation Herbort. She attended school in Stonewall for grades 1-8 and then attended St. Mary’s Catholic School for grades 9-12, graduating in 1962.  She married Charles “Fuz” Jenschke. Charles’ boyhood home is now known as the Staudt-Jenschke House, the newly-restored house on the Pioneer Museum campus. Jo is a member of the Nebgen School Community Club, currently president, and the president of the Gillespie County Country Schools. “My interest in the history of Gillespie County led to volunteering with the Historical Society. Family connections to the Staudt-Jenschke house, and the Dambach-Besier house sparked my desire to help preserve historical facts.”

 

Corinne ‘Reenie’ Pehl

Reenie is a native of Fredericksburg. She and her late husband, Billy, previously owned Pehl’s Flower Shop. A Fredericksburg High School graduate, mother of three, grandmother of seven and great-grandmother to one, Reenie attended Texas Lutheran University and had a successful career as a realtor. In addition to her volunteer work at the Pioneer Museum, she is a member of the Bethany Lutheran Altar Guild, German Mixed Choir, Daughters of the Republic of Texas and a nursing home companion.

 

Helen Lucille Bierschwale Usener

Helen was born in Fredericksburg and grew up in the Spring Creek – Pilot Knob Community where she attended the Pilot Knob Country School for eight years and then graduated from Fredericksburg High School. One of the Bierschwale family activities was to participate in the annual Easter Fires Pageant. She taught elementary school for 24 years, retiring in 2002. Retirement gave Helen the opportunity to volunteer with Evelyn Weinheimer at the Pioneer Museum to help with photo identification. “It is very rewarding to be able to identify so many people in photos and remember the activities.”

 

Laura Wilson

Laura has been a resident of Fredericksburg for over 50 years. She began visiting in 1970 after her husband Rick’s parents retired here from the military. After seeing Fredericksburg, they wanted to move here too. She taught First Grade at St. Mary’s Catholic School from 1977-1979, then joined Fredericksburg Independent School District teaching Elementary Special Education through 2007. For the next 15 years, Laura was a Fredericksburg Convention and Visitor Bureau Weekend Travel Counselor. She has served the GCHS and Pioneer Museum in Archives, Spring Break activities, Historic Jail Docent, and Historic Home Tour Docent. Laura is a long-term member of the Gillespie County Retired Teachers Association and Oktoberfest, plus other festivals; Night in Old Fredericksburg, Food and Wine and Pioneer Memorial Library Book Festival.