Tricia Leines

Little did I know that my son Andrew’s lifelong love for baseball, the 2022 MLB Draft and Andrew’s place as a starting pitcher for the Triple A Saint Paul Saints would lead me to find my father’s birthplace and retrace his early steps.

I had the chance to do something I’ve never done before—visit Minneapolis, Minnesota, the city where my father was born and spent the first 14 years of his life. With the generous help of Bailey, a wonderful librarian, I was able to piece together where my dad lived during his early years.

My grandparents, Tillie and Henry Waldemar Leines had four beautiful daughters, Millie, Gladys, Grace, and Romayne. And, on Mother’s Day, May 13th, 1928, at Fairview Hospital in Minneapolis, Tillie gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Henry Merwin Leines. A precious addition to this loving and nurturing family…of all girls.

The story goes that in Grandpa’s excitement, he walked all the way home from the hospital to the tenement row houses where they lived, eager to share the news with friends and family who were keeping vigil. I imagine my grandfather stepping out into the quiet night, just after dad was born at 11:25 pm, walking beneath the stars, his heart full of gratitude and pride. As I drove from Fairview Hospital to the address where he lived, I could picture Grandpa striding with purpose, humming a celebratory hymn… his heart filled with happiness.

Despite the joyful beginning, life was not easy. Dad, born just a year before the Great Depression, meant times were hard. But my grandfather worked tirelessly, using his hands and his intellect to provide for his family and be of service to his community. When he and his brother Emil first arrived in Minneapolis from farm life in North Dakota, they worked as mechanics. The city records also list Henry W’s daughters working as typists, bank and store clerks and the family took in borders from time to time. This is how one of my aunts met her future husband. Through determination and skill, Grandpa and Emil opened and owned a successful business in downtown Minneapolis—The Leines Garage, a mechanic’s shop that stood as a symbol of their perseverance and vision.

With Bailey’s help, scouring city records, I was able to find and visit six different addresses where my dad lived during his early childhood—each place marking a chapter in the life of a growing boy and a hard-working family. (map , addresses and current photos below) Two addresses were no longer accessible, one taken over by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the other now buried beneath Interstate-35W. Still, walking those streets gave me a profound sense of connection—to my father, to my grandparents, to the stories that shaped us.

When my dad turned 12, the family moved to Portland, Oregon to build a new life. But for my dad, Minneapolis was where it all began. And now, in a beautiful full-circle moment, my son Andrew—who was drafted three years ago by the Minnesota Twins organization—has found his own footing in Minnesota. This week, I had the immense joy of watching him as a starting pitcher for the Saint Paul Saints just across the Mississippi River in Saint Paul.

It’s hard to describe how it felt to walk the same ground my father once walked, while watching my son take bold steps forward in his own life. I couldn’t help but feel the presence of our ancestors in all of it—the strength, the hope, the legacy that still lives and breathes in these places.

This journey reminded me of the importance of roots. Of family. Of resilience. The way our stories stretch across time, carried through love, labor, and dreams. Sometimes life offers us the gift of returning—not only to honor where we come from—but to recognize how far we’ve come. And, to continue carrying that legacy forward, one step at a time.

1928: Fairview Hospital, Riverside Avenue/23rd and 25th Streets

This six story brick building is tucked away, barely visible on the large hospital campus. It is used to train nurses. It overlooks the Mississippi River and the campus of University of Minnesota Twin Cities, where Dad would eventually live in nearby neighborhood 1932.

1928: 605 East 22nd Street. These are not the original structures, but they are similar. Tenement row houses were built and then torn down in the 70s. These row houses were built in the 80s.

1928: Grandpa, Henry W. Leines, worked as mechanic for Samuel A Nelson.

Uncle Emil Leines lived two apartments down at 601 East 22nd Street.

1929: Grandpa, Henry W. Leines, worked as a mechanic for Graham-Paige Company. Henry’s daughter, Mildred Leines is listed as a clerk at Northwest National Bank.

October 20, 1929: The Leines siblings held a family reunion in Minneapolis. (Left photo: back row, left to right) Emil Leines, Henry W. Leines, Nels Leines, Albert Leines, Jens Leines. (front row) Alma Leines Johnson, Kaia Leines Haugen, Ella Leines Granhoi (Right photo) Unfortunately, there are no names on the back. I am guessing that these are some of the children of the Leines siblings. Dad, Henry M. Leines, would have been just over a year old. I wonder if he is the little one in the middle?

1930: 3221 Columbus Avenue

1931: 612 East 25th Street. This house is close to St. Mary’s University.

1932: 409 Oak Street. The house no longer exists, taken over by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. It is from this area you can easily walk down to the Mississippi River and see Fairview Hospital, were Henry M. was born.

1933: Grandpa, Henry W. Leines, is a mechanic for Hokanson Auto Ptg. Company. His daughter, Gladys, is listed as working as a clerk for E.E. Atkinson and Co, a scarf, hat and coat company.

1933-1934: 1901 19th Avenue North East. You can see the the skyscrapers of Minneapolis from their house. Soon my grandparents and father will move one more time. This time closer to the big city where Grandpa and Uncle Emil will start their business.

Just about a mile from the 19th Avenue house was Concordia Lutheran Church were my Aunts Grace and Romanye were married. Grace married Chester Peterson in 1939. Romanye married Walter Maki in 1942.

I verified this church with the librarian as there are many Concordia churches with Lutheran roots. Today this church is operated by Gospel Light Baptist Church.

1935: 312 9th Avenue South East. This house no longer exists. It is paved over by Interstate-35W.

1935: 1004 2nd Avenue South. Site of the Leines Garage. Now a parking garage.

1935: Grace Leines, Henry W. Leines’s daughter, works as a clerk at Midland National Bank and Trust Co.

Photos below date unknown: Grandpa and dad, Henry W Leines and Henry M Leines, standing in front of the WCCO Radio Tower and Building. According to a WCCO 60th Anniversary document linked, pages 24-27, new towers were being built in Anoka, Minnesota, just outside of Minneapolis. When the towers were completed in 1939, they were the tallest structures in Minnesota at 654 feet. https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Station-Albums/WCCO-60th-Anniversary.pdf

Fast forward to the 1970s, Dad loved listening to the radio and on our many roadtrips we would listen to reruns of “The Shadow” which began at WCCO studios 1930.

Dates unknown and nothing written on the back of the photos below:

1940: Henry M. Leines, dad, had a paper route and received a Certificate of Merit for delivering papers during Armistice Day Storm of 1940. Click the link to find out more about the deadly storm: https://www.weather.gov/arx/nov111940#:~:text=In%20addition%2C%2030%20to%2050,resulting%20in%20another%2059%20deaths.

1941: Photos below are stamped with October 8, 1941.

1941: Luccock Park in Montana

1942: Romayne Leines is listed as working as a typist at the Federal Reserve Bank. In July she quit her job and married to Walter Maki. The photos below are stamped on the back with June 1942, Minneapolis. Soon after these photos were taken, my Grandparents and dad, age 14, moved to Portland, Oregon to start a new life in the Pacific Northwest.

If you have any details you’d like to add to this post, please let me know in the comment below. Thank you so much!