Roma James Brehm was born on November 3, 1925 to Fred and Leota Knorr Brehm. He was born in Mercer County Ohio. Roma is Walt’s 2nd cousin on the Hoel side of the family.

Roma Brehm was the 4th of 5 children born to Fred and Leota. The family lived on a farm in Mercer county, Ohio. While both of his parents had an 8th grade education, Roma went to high school. The 1940 census finds Roma and his younger brother Harold still at home.

In 1943, right after his 18th birthday, he registered for the draft. He was working at the St Marys Manufacturing Company in Auglaize County, Ohio. It appears that this may have been a woolen manufacturing plant.

On April 22, 1944, Roma Brehm married Martha Loyer Brinker in St. Mary’s, Ohio. Roma and Martha had two children. They lived for a time in Ohio City, Ohio.

Roma died on April 9, 1984 in Van Wert, Ohio. He is buried in Celina, Ohio.

Roma Brehm’s connection to Walt’s family is through his maternal grandmother Sarah Fisher Kanorr, the sister of Walt’s grandmother Martha Ann Fisher Hoel. I wrote about their mother Anna in this post.