VGI Updates

Rudolph & Leo Blitz, twin sons of Henry Blitz & Marie Bieden of Lincoln, Nebraska, were born 9 April 1921.  Both were killed in action aboard the USS Oklahoma during the attack on Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, on 7 December 1941.

They were originally interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu along with other unidentified sailors from the USS Oklahoma. In 2015, DNA was used to identify their remains, and they were reinterred in Lincoln Memorial Park in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Sebastián Prediger, born in 4 September 1986 in Crespo, Entre Ríos Province, is an Argentine professional soccer player. He has played for:

Colón (Argentina) (2004-2006, 20070-2009, 2011-2013)
Millonarios (Colombia) (2007)
FC Porto (Portugal) (2009)
Boca Juniors (Argentina) (2010)
Cruzeiro (Brazil) (2010)
Baniyas SC (UAE) (2014)
Estudiantes (Argentina) (2014-2015)
Belgrano Cba (Argentina) (2015-2016)
Newell's Old Boys (Argentina) (2016-2017)
San Martín (Argentina) (2017)
Tigre (Argentina) (2018-present)

Henry G. "Hank" Walker was born in 1921 and died 13 October 1996 in Miami.

Walker was a Time / Life Photographer with over a dozen cover photos for Life Magazine in the 1950s & 60s. Mr. Walker started at Life in 1948 as a contract photographer and joined the staff three years later. In 1951, he was assigned to Washington as a White House photographer. One of his photographs shows the silhouetted figures of John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert as they conferred in a hotel room on the eve of the 1960 Democratic convention.

Randy Herman Meisner, son of Herman & Emilie Meisner, was born 8 March 1946 in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.  He is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles (1971-1977).

Randy died 26 July 2023 in Los Angeles.

His Volga German ancestors come from the colonies of Hussenbach and Grimm.

Virgil C. Dechant was born 24 September 1930 in Antonino, Kansas.  He served as the Twelfth Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus (1977-2000).

Mr. Dechant is the vice president of the Vatican Bank, a Gentiluomo di Sua Santità (a Gentleman of His Holiness), and a Councillor on the State Council for Vatican City. He had the honor of escorting President George W. Bush to the funeral of Pope John Paul II.

His Volga German ancestors come from the colony of Mariental.

Kristine Weitz is an American singer-songwriter who performs under the name "Kristine W."  She was born 8 June 1962 in Pasco, Washington.   Weitz won the Miss Washington 1980 title and won swimsuit and talent in the Miss America Pageant.  She moved to Las Vegas from where she began her music career.  She topped Billboard's Dance/Club Play Songs chart 15 times.

Her Volga German ancestral home is Yagodnaya Polyana.

Chess Master Sonja Graf-Stevenson was born in Munich Susanna Graf, daughter of Volga German parents Joseph Graf and Susanna Zimmermann, on 16 December 1908.  She won the Women’s World Sub-Champion and was a two-time winner of U.S. Women’s Chess Championships. 

Gabriel Heinze, son of Jorge & Titina Heinze, was born 19 April 1978 in Crespo, Argentina.  He is an Argentine footballer who has played with Manchester United, Real Madrid, & Marseille.

His Volga German ancestors came from the colony of Preuss.

Gerald F. "Jerry" Seib is the Washington bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. He is responsible for the Journal’s news and analysis from Washington. He also developed the digital edition of the Washington bureau that includes his own column and commentaries, a real-time version of Washington Wire and other features and columns.