Lena Exner was born on February 17, 1862 in Eilenberg, Germany to parents Karl August Exner and Friestereste Louise Exner. She married Wilheim Oscar Schubert on June 29, 1884, and together the couple had three sons, Walter Oscar Schubert, Fred Ernest Schuber, and Paul Oscar Schubert. On February 28, 1890, Wilheim died, leaving Lena a widow with three children under the age of five. In 1892, she made the decision to leave Germany to avoid a military life for her sons. With her three young children, she moved to Columbus, Ohio, where she worked as a seamstress to support the family. In 1895, she remarried, to another German immigrant named Joseph Kessler. Lena made a successful life for herself in her adopted country, putting all her children through Ohio State University. She passed away on September 14, 1923 at the age of 61 and was buried in the Greenlawn Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.
Lena Exner Schubert Kessler
