Yettie Kersting

Duane's take

The official marker tells this story, and I'm just the one lucky enough to pass it along to you. Now, Liberty County has had its share of big personalities, but I want to tell you about a woman named Henrietta Kersting — Yettie, everybody called her — who was born in Giddings, Texas, on October 17th, 1863. Her father, Henry Kersting, was a German immigrant farmer.

Her mother was Louisa Johnson before she became Louisa Kersting. Yettie grew up in Lee County, got her public education there, picked up some early business experience — and then, somewhere right around the turn of the century, she pointed herself toward Liberty. Now Liberty at that moment was an oil boomtown.

Prosperous, loud, growing fast. The kind of place where a sharp person with a plan could plant a seed and watch it grow. Yettie planted hers in millinery — hats, if you don't know the word.

She established that business and she ran it well. Well enough that money started coming in, and here's where Yettie shows you who she really was: she didn't spend it. She saved it.

Then she invested it, primarily in real estate. At some point she acquired a two-story building right across from the courthouse. Ground floor: her millinery shop.

Half that floor rented out to another business. And upstairs? Yettie ran her own rooming house.

The woman was operating a small empire right there in the heart of Liberty. And eventually she opened the White Kitchen Café, which she ran all the way until her retirement in 1940. But here's the thing about Yettie Kersting that the marker wants you to sit with.

All that work, all those years of thrift and hustle and building — she wasn't stacking it up for herself. She had a vision. A hospital for Liberty County.

A place, as she put it, for the relief of suffering humanity. No matter a person's financial circumstances. No matter their ethnic background.

Everybody. That vision came to fruition in 1935. Yettie was seventy-two years old, and she left the bulk of her estate to the people of Liberty County for a hospital.

Construction on the first unit started in 1940, at a cost of eighteen thousand dollars. The hospital clinic, located on Sam Houston Street, was dedicated on October 18th, 1941. And on that dedication day, the first patient received at the hospital Yettie Kersting had founded and given away — was Yettie Kersting herself.

Five weeks later, on November 22nd, she died in that building. The one she'd dreamed up, saved for, and handed to her community. There's not a tall tale alive that could improve on that ending.

The woman built the place, walked in the front door, and from there she didn't have to go anywhere else. Liberty County's still living inside the gift she left behind.

What the marker says

Henrietta "Yettie" Kersting was born in Giddings, Texas, on October 17th, 1863, daughter of Louisa (Johnson) and Henry Kersting, a German immigrant farmer. Yettie received a public education and early business experience in Lee County. At the turn of the century she settled in the prosperous oil boomtown of Liberty and quickly established a millinery business. With her business thriving, she saved her money and soon made investments, primarily in real estate. She acquired a two-story building across from the courthouse, moved her millinery business to the lower floor, rented half to another business and maintained her own rooming house upstairs. Eventually Yettie opened the White Kitchen Caf��, which she operated until her retirement in 1940. Her vision of a hospital came to fruition in 1935, when at age seventy-two she left the bulk of her estate to the people of Liberty County for a hospital. In 1940, construction of one unit of the hospital was started at a cost of $18,000. This first hospital clinic, located on Sam Houston Street, was dedicated on October 18th, 1941, and fittingly received Yettie Kersting as its first patient. Five weeks later on November 22, she died in the hospital she had founded and given to "The relief of suffering humanity." Yettie Kersting's memory is firmly rooted in the community of Liberty and the hospital that her dedication, thrift and generosity made possible. Her philanthropic endeavors in the community still resonate today. She envisioned a medical facility dedicated to the health needs of citizens, no matter their financial circumstances or ethnic background. Through hard work, selfless demeanor and love for her community, this early businesswoman made a great impact.