My grandfather was named for his grandfather. His mother's name was Monika Riese. Her nickname was "Nika".(N-EYE-kuh).
My grandfather remembers that his mother loved his father very much. They couldn't afford meat for the entire family, except for one person, and she always saw that he got it. He was three years old when his father died. He remembered being taken outside during the funeral. The casket was drawn by mules. A year later, his mother died of a broken heart. Part of Friesland extends into Germany.
Thanks so much for the lost censuses. We have tried every spelling combination we could think of, but didn't think of those. The closest we got to any of the places mentioned on the birth certificates you mentioned was Voldenam when we visited the Netherlands two years ago, about forty miles away. I wonder if there's any family stories about why they left.