William "Bill" Frederick Barkmeier, the son of Frederick John and Mary Catharine (Tepe) Barkmeier, was born March 27, 1884 in Westendorf, Germany.  He immigrated to the United States in 1889 with his parents, brothers and sister, and settled near the village of Exeter, Nebraska.

He married Anna Marie Winkler on February 8, 1918. She was born on November 23, 1882 in Crete Nebraska. They owned a 80 acre farm southeast of  Exeter, Nebraska. A 1918 atlas of the Exeter Township shows that this farm was rented to his brother, Frederick August Barkmeier, and wife, Clara Elizabeth (Wiszmann) Barkmeier. After Bill's father died in 1916, Bill and Anna Marie farmed the 160 acre farm in the Fairmont Township owned by his parents.  His mother, Mary, and adopted sister, Victoria Geyger lived with them for awhile after his father's death. The farm was sold in 1941 and Bill and Anna Marie moved to a farm just north and west of the village of Exeter.

Bill and Anna Marie had three children. Their children were Leo, born in July 8, 1919; Margaret Mary, born May 5, 1923; and Anna Marie, born June 23, 1925.  Leo was a Down Syndrome child who was unable to advance beyond the ability of a very young child and was never able to walk. He lived until the age of 23 years and passed away in 1942. Margaret Mary lived less than two years and died April 16, 1925. Anna Marie married Edward Thomas Mueller on December 27, 1947.

Anna Marie (Winkler) Barkmeier died on April 29, 1963.  Bill died March 5, 1980 at the age of nearly 96 years.  Bill and Anna Marie are buried in the Exeter Cemetery in Exeter, Nebraska.

 

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