AFTER 6 DECADES - SHE CAN VOTE!

(1972 Rush County News)

Next to her brand-new citizenship papers in the picture, two of Mrs. Manuel Ochs' most prized possessions are the booklet given her when she became a citizen, and an old photograph of her family soon after their arrival in New York from Russia. Though a resident of Rush County all her life, because of a mistake in parents' passport, she had never become a U.S. citizen. With the help of her son, an attorney in Topeka, she corrected that mistake.

Marie's father Philip Koch, had already received his passports to come to the United States in 1912; when Marie's sister died at their home in Yakatah, Russia. He did not want to go through the trouble of filing for new papers and have to wait for a new set. The following story is in Marie's own words.

"It took my son, a Topeka attorney, to prove that I was ever born; I've been here in Kansas almost 60 years and he had to prove I deserved to be called a United States citizen." "I've led a life like everyone else all these years, but I couldn't even vote! But things are different now. I'm just as American as anybody!"

When she was an infant named Marie Elizabeth, she came from Russia to Rush County with her German parents, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Koch. She had been baptized in Russia but she was not listed on her parents' passport. The Russian records were lost after the revolution and she literally was in an alien land without papers.

Until she reached voting age, it didn't matter too much; nor did it bother her so much when she married in 1927. But about 1939, she decided to apply for U.S. citizenship.

"A man came out from Kansas City and accused me of being smuggled into the country! But I had plenty of friends and relatives who had known me all my life so he didn't get anywhere with that!"

So Marie just gave the whole thing up. If getting her papers involved that much red tape, she was too busy helping her husband raise their family.

But someone else was interested. Mr. and Mrs Manuel Ochs have five children. One, Robert, is an attorney in Topeka, and he wanted his mother to be a citizen in her own right like everyone else. Robert began to work on the problem in his spare time. Among other things, Marie had to get the date of her arrival in the U.S.A., port of entry and the name of the ship. Fortunately her brother Philip Koch of Galatia had the necessary information from papers he'd saved.

And then she went back to school, learning how to pass the exams all applicants for U.S. citizenship must pass."Presidents, senators, battles, boy, I think I learned them all," she laughed. "And I passed that exam, too."

Then, with her witnesses, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Reichel of LaCrosse, who had been lifelong friends, she went to Topeka with her husband to face her examiner, C.J. Long, prior to the naturalization ceremony. And to her horror, she froze up!

The examiner recognized her plight and asked her, "Are you afraid of me?"

"Yes, sir," Marie replied.

"How many children do you have," he asked.

"Five."

"Are all of them yours?"

Marie, who is proud of her offspring as nothing else in her life, came out of her corner fighting. "Now you look here, mister, I don't care who you are, you just leave my kids alone! Etc., etc."

It took her a moment to realize the man was grinning at her. "He sure got me over my stage fright in a hurry," she said, "and after that, everything went fine."

During the ceremony, Marie and eight other applicants took their oath of allegiance. They represented five foreign countries. The Boy Scouts choir was there, turned out in navy blue robes with red and white collars.

"It was very nice, and when they sang, "This Is My Country," I broke down and cried. I admit it. I was proud of being a citizen after nearly 60 years of waiting."

"All these years I've not been able to vote," Marie grinned, "boy, I'm going to make up for from now on!" She was so proud to be called an American Citizen.

Source for the following article is the Rush County News, LaCrosse, Kansas, Frontage 1972. Clipping donated by Carol Hallett, daughter of Marie Elizabeth Ochs August 26, 1999.