October 25, 1924 - March 6, 1998
Son of Thomas and Louisa (Schoemaker) Signall-Nicoll
Wife Louisa (Shoemaker) Signall-Nicoll 1904 - 1993
They were Mr. and Mrs. Frank Balk of Carroll and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Signall of Glidden formerly of Manilla. Their conversation, a mixture of German and English would have been slightly confusing to the average listener.
Mrs. Balk, who has been living in Carroll since December 1, is the former Frahziska Mayerhofer of Frankfurt, Germany. Mrs. Signall, who came to the United States with her Army Veteran husband in September of 1947, is the former Alice Freitag of Marburg, Germany.
The Signalls moved to Glidden last April, and have two girls and one boy. Mr. Signall, who previously did farm work, has been training as a mechanic in Carroll since January 1.
The couple first became acquainted when Mr. Signall was stationed with the Army in Germany during the WWII. Before he met his wife, Mr. Signall could not speak German, but now he does well in this respect. He believes it is easier and quicker to learn a language by experience in associating with the people who speak it than from books. During more than a year's service in France, he learned the French language by employing this theory. His wife, who didn't speak a word has learned English in the same manner. "I didn't know how she can read English, but she certainly keeps the newspaper long enough in the evening," said Mr. Signall with a smile.
In much the same manner, Mr. Balk, who speaks both German and English fluently, has taught his wife to speak English. "Today is English day, and I don't understand a word of German," he will say to Mrs. Balk, and she is learning our language rapidly.
Waiting on customers answering calls in the store operated by her father-in-law and her husband also has helped Mrs. Balk to learn English. This is not her first encounter with the English language, however.
In school in Germany, she had four years of English, as well as eight years of French. Her father, Jacob Mayerhofer, spent 10 years in London before marriage and speaks English fluently.
"I can write English better than I can speak it," said Mrs. Balk who wrote all of the English letters for her father’s chemical export and import business in Frankfurt.
Mrs. Balk likes Carroll very much, but admits that she does get a trifle homesick at times for Germany, her mother and father and her two brothers. She is eager to learn our language and our ways and is not afraid to ask questions. “One thing I do not understand is why your American newspaper articles are not signed by the author," she said. “In German newspapers, each article is signed and if the reader disagrees with the writer, he may write a letter to the newspaper disputing the article,” she explained.
"It must have been what you Americans call love at first sight," laughed Mrs. Balk when asked how she and her husband met. Although they corresponded for over a year the couple did not meet until Mr. Balk went to Germany for a visit in July 1949. Three weeks after his arrival in Frankfurt, they were married.
"But he came to visit Germany, not me" Mrs. Balk insisted.
As required by German law, the church service on August 9, was preceded by a state marriage ceremony on August 8, so they were really married twice.
An eight-day honeymoon was spent at Schlangenbad, a health resort especially for persons with heart trouble, although guests there do not have to be patients. "In a way, I guess you might say we had heart trouble," said Mr. Balk with a grin.
Mr. Balk returned to Carroll on August 18, but his wife was not able to join him here until December. Although Mr. Balk was stationed with the Army during the war in Nuremberg, Germany, just 66 miles from Frankfurt, he did not know of his wife-to-be at the time. It was not until one of his cousins in Germany married an uncle of Mrs. Balk that he first heard of his wife-to-be.
Mr. Balk, who was born in Wurzburg, Germany, came to Carroll
in 1923 with his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Balk, and his brother,
Andrew Balk, Jr.
Carroll Daily Times Herald February 15, 1950