Henriette Hedwig (Yette) Austen (DaM VIII 12)

Henriette Hedwig (Yette) Austen, née Eckart, (DaM VIII 12), (*May 13, 1902, Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii, † March 2, 1999, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii), married Edmund John Austen June 19, 1925, Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

Henriette "Yette" Eckart, around 1916.

Henriette Eckart was born on May 13, 1902, in Wailuku, Maui, Hawaii as the twelfth child of Maximilian Eckart and Maria Louisa Campbell. Her mother Maria Louisa died in 1908, when Yette was only six years old. She was raised by her father and elder siblings, until, after finishing eighth grade, she was sent to Kamehameha boarding school in Honolulu in 1917. She graduated from this boarding school in 1919 and started work as a teacher at Territorial Normal School Honolulu shortly thereafter. Her granddaughter Barbara Austen later recalled that Yette’s profession became her vocation. On June 19, 1925, Yette married Edmund John Austen, who was originally from Canada, in Honolulu. Between 1926 and 1930, Yette Austen had four children: Roselani in 1926, Wilby George in 1927, Edmund in 1928 and Kanani in 1930.

In the postwar period and the 1950s, Auntie Yette was the driving force when it came to maintaining contact between the family lines in Europe and the United States. From time to time, she provided the Eckarts who were living in Poing, Germany, with groceries such as chocolate and cocoa – a big luxury in the postwar period in Germany. Between 1955 and 1957, she and two of her 20 grandchildren spent two years in Werner Eckart’s family home in Germany. During that time, she worked as an exchange teacher in Munich. Yette wanted to see as many of her German relatives as possible which is why Werner organized the first reunion of the Eckart family. She was very interested in genealogical research. Thanks to the cooperation and an active exchange of letters with Heidi Killinger, they managed to complete the family tree of the American and Hawaiian Eckarts. Yette’s 80th birthday was a fitting occasion for the first family reunion for which the German relatives traveled to Hawaii. Yette Austen died on March 2, 1999, in Honolulu.

english description 1982 auf Hawaii. Porträt Yette Austen.

Quellen zu Auntie Yette

• 

  Familie Austen
  Yette, Edmund Austen und ihre vier Kinder Roselanie, Wilby, Edmund und Kanani (v.l.n.r.).

• 

  Zweiter Familientag 1967
  Yette singt mit Kurt und Harriet Teshima.

• 

  Emskirchen 1967
  Werner Eckart und Henriette Austen vor dem Gasthof „Goldener Hirsch“ in Emskirchen.

• 

  Auntie Yette
  Auntie Yette feierte ihren 80. Geburtstag 1982 auf Hawaii. Die Zeitung Honolulu Advertiser berichtet ausführlich darüber, besonders auch über die Delegation der Münchner Eckarts, darunter auch Werner Eckart.

Literatur und Quellen

• Eckart, Otto und Kamp, Michael: Die Geschichte der Familie Eckart. Von Franken nach München und Hawaii, München 2015.

• Lily Susanna Pearson: Maximilian Eckart. Die Jahre auf Hawaii. 1868-1918.

• Familienarchiv Eckart, FA-S1165, Korrespondenz Hawaii-Verwandte mit Anny, Werner und Heidi E., 1981-1999, hier Henriette Austen.