08/20/2026
Charles John Rohr was born April 4, 1862 in the small village of Helmlingen, Baden, Germany. It was here that his future bride, Dorothea Zimpfer, was baptized in May of 1865.
In Germany, Charles learned the tailor’s trade. Like many young men of his generation, he eventually looked beyond his homeland for opportunity. In 1879, at the age of 17, he left Germany for America.
After arriving in the United States, Charles settled in Plainfield, Illinois. There, he began building a new life and learned the business of being a miller.
Married in Plainfield on June 21, 1882, Charles and Dorothea became the parents of four children: Charles, Dorothea “Dora,” Bertha and Wesley. Their first three children were born before the family moved to West Chicago on May 1, 1888. Here Charles found work at the C. & N. W. Railroad roundhouse. In 1891, their fourth and last child, Wesley, was born.
The lives of the Rohr children became closely connected with other local families. Dora married Albert Hensel, the brother of Wesley’s wife, Lena. Bertha married Daniel Book. Bertha died in 1920 at the age of 32, while Daniel lived into his nineties. Both Bertha and Daniel are buried in the Plainfield Township Cemetery.
Son Charles was injured in a car accident in late June, 1948 in Lebanon, Missouri and died from his injuries at the age of 64 on July 5th, only several months after his mother, Dorothea, passed away on February 13th.
The Rohr family joined the Methodist Church in West Chicago, where Charles served as church treasurer for 20 years and also worked as the church janitor. Charles also served as director of the West Chicago grade schools for 18 years.
Charles John Rohr passed away on April 7, 1941. He is buried alongside Dorothea in the Oakwood Cemetery in West Chicago, Illinois.
