The earliest historical mention of the name "Hodapp" can be traced to seventeenth-century Hasloch Baden, Germany. This is why we Hodapps claim German is our nationality. However, it has been proposed that even ealier than 1637, the Hodapp ancestors were actually French, and that our last name derived from Haute Dieppe, a French place-name.

The man pictured in the Hodapp coat of arms holds a loaf of bread; my ancestors were bakers. But a little more than two hundred years later, as can be read at the bottom of this altered depiction of our coat of arms, my ancestors became clothiers. At the turn of the century, Hodapp Nelson Clothing took its place as one of the most prominent businesses in Madelia, Minnesota.

At left is my favorite photograph of my dad's family, my more immediate Hodapp roots.
Back row from left: Uncle Philip, Grandma, Aunt Frankie, and Grandpa
Middle row from left: Uncle Eddie, Uncle Jim, Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Bob Sullivan
Front row from left: Little Stevie (my dad), and Uncle Don.
This photograph was taken on the front step of the house I remember simply as "Grandma's house."