Ronk Origins
Our origins are in Pomerania a region between present day Germany and Poland on the southern boarder of the Baltic Sea. By the early 1700s we were in Luxembourg near the border of France and Germany in the town of Ellange (French), Ellingen (German), Elleng (Luxembourgish).
In 1985 Heimat und Mission released a publication concerning houses in Ellange that revealed the Ronk home to be the oldest in town. A renovation around this time revealed the home’s builder, Paul Ronk – 1709.
Houses had names that typically identified the occupation of its inhabitants. The Ronk house in Ellange is named Haus a Steemesch meaning house of stone masons. For generations the Ronks were land managers, architects, and builders of homes, schools, and churches.
In Memoriam
Arthur "Art" L. Ronk
1918 - 2007
Art had the foresight to preserve the Ronk history that took place in Belgium Wisconsin back to 1849. He maintained historic photos and documents including the historically significant photo of Nicholas and Paul at Ronk's Pier. Art is the great-grandson of Nicholas Ronk and Maria Schumacher.
John Rodney "Rod" Ronk
1927 - 2009
"When the genealogy bug bites it bites hard" - Rod Ronk. Rod had a passion for history and shared it with others. He lost his father George at the young age of 3 and was raised by his aunt and uncle Theresa and Frank Munker in Chilton Wisconsin. He would eventually become the Mayor of Chilton. Rod took us back further into the history, discovering the sale of all the Ronk properties in Luxembourg prior to our emigration to America in 1849. Rod is the great-grandson of Paul Ronk and Anna Risch.
Jeannine M. Meyer
1929 - 2015
Jeannine Meyer (Forsmo) is credited with the most comprehensive collection of Ronk family history and clearly, she was on a path to write a book. Her research focused mostly on the Paul Ronk and Anna Risch side of the family which led her to explore records in Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Luxembourg. Jeannine is the great-great granddaughter of Paul Ronk and Anna Risch.
David J. Hirn
1951 - 2020
David left no stone unturned. He was a purist reminding us often that "genealogy without documentation is mythology". David went after source documents: birth, marriage, death and others revealing the real story behind the history. David is the great-grandson of Margaret Ronk and Karl Franz Hirn, and the great-great grandson of Nicholas Ronk and Maria Schumacher.