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Patricia Goepfrich
2024 Hoosier German - American of the Year For her life-long dedication and enthusiasm within the Dubois County German-American community and its surrounding areas; For her collection and historic preservation of German heritage artifacts related to Dubois County; For being the 2011 German-American Award recipient issued by the Jasper Deutscher Verein, Sister Cities of Jasper, Inc., and the Jasper Partnership Commission; For organizing the four-county annual high school essay contest with its inception in 1999, and being the editor of the Jasper Deutscher Verein monthly newsletter for over 20 years.
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Sister Cities of Jasper Inc., nomination of Patti Goepfrich of Jasper, Indiana to receive the
2024 Annual Hoosier-German American Award.
2024 Annual Hoosier-German American Award.
Her parents Irene and Joe Eckerle raised their three children in Dubois County, and both talked quite a lot of the old Germany when growing up.
When the first contacts were made between Pfaffenweiler, Germany and Jasper, IN, USA to establish a Sister City relation in 1984, Patti soon discovered her Eckerle family’s direct connection to Pfaffenweiler. Meeting many of them over the next few years motivated her to do her own family research, link up with distant relatives and become an important link.
Her attention to detail, attention to collect information has made her a wealth of information, a keeper of records for all German heritage items related to Dubois County and beyond. She has accumulated a vast amount of historical information in her wide-open basement, a collection of family, community, county and state history.
Patti has been editing the Jasper Deutscher Verein monthly newsletter for at least the past 20 years. Her attention to detail guides her with planning months in advance to ensure announcements are not only made in the last minute, but as far as possible in the future. Her desire to offer information from all relating groups in the community and the county have made this newsletter an important information source for many people, as out local newspaper can’t provide the many details for all the many clubs and teams in the community. Her networking over many years with German related clubs and associations statewide and into neighboring states have linked many events and groups to support the German heritage.
A few years after the annual German Heritage Award was implemented with her organizational support in 1999 in Dubois County she developed and took over the annual Dubois County High School Essay Contest, which allows seniors from all four county High Schools to compete each for a $250 Scholarship sponsored by local bank German American. Her managerial skills have led the contest.
When the first contacts were made between Pfaffenweiler, Germany and Jasper, IN, USA to establish a Sister City relation in 1984, Patti soon discovered her Eckerle family’s direct connection to Pfaffenweiler. Meeting many of them over the next few years motivated her to do her own family research, link up with distant relatives and become an important link.
Her attention to detail, attention to collect information has made her a wealth of information, a keeper of records for all German heritage items related to Dubois County and beyond. She has accumulated a vast amount of historical information in her wide-open basement, a collection of family, community, county and state history.
Patti has been editing the Jasper Deutscher Verein monthly newsletter for at least the past 20 years. Her attention to detail guides her with planning months in advance to ensure announcements are not only made in the last minute, but as far as possible in the future. Her desire to offer information from all relating groups in the community and the county have made this newsletter an important information source for many people, as out local newspaper can’t provide the many details for all the many clubs and teams in the community. Her networking over many years with German related clubs and associations statewide and into neighboring states have linked many events and groups to support the German heritage.
A few years after the annual German Heritage Award was implemented with her organizational support in 1999 in Dubois County she developed and took over the annual Dubois County High School Essay Contest, which allows seniors from all four county High Schools to compete each for a $250 Scholarship sponsored by local bank German American. Her managerial skills have led the contest.