Witmer Reunion 2011 (part I)

This was a weekend for the record books.  Sixty-six years after the Witmer family was started we had a weekend reunion with almost 75% of the family present.  For some families that might not be such a big deal, but for a family that has spread all across the country and beyond, it was.

First of all, here are the seven original siblings that were there:

 

Back row:  Betty Witmer-Kepnes, (53), Doris Fahnestock (57), Jean Stauffer (59), Mary Ellen Witmer (64)

Front row:  Barb Brubaker (56), Dick Witmer (65), Rose Wichterman (47)

Missing for the past seven years, since she passed away so unexpectedly, is our oldest sister Janet Peifer, who would now be 66.

Janet's entire family was present this year for the first time in a long while.

Back row:  Janet's daughter Lori, her daughter Sydney, son Jared, and husband Jim.

Front row:  Pauline and Elvin (Janet's husband and his second wife), Jim's son Bradley, Janet's son Scott holding twin son Jonah with son Corbin holding onto his neck, Scott's wife Sherri holding twin son Reid.  Lori's family was there from Michigan and Scott's family was there all the way from California!  They'll be spending this week together at Elvin's lake house.  What a great bunch!

My brother Dick's family was there except for his two oldest grandchildren.

 

The back row is my brother in the middle with his son Steve on the left and son Richard on the right.

Front row:  Steve's sons Laith and Timothy and his wife Beth, Dick's wife Nancy, Richard's wife Jennifer and their daughter Emily.  Their two older children, Josh and Sarah are in Montana on a 4-H exchange, so were not with us.  Steve's family is home from Egypt for the summer.  

Our family was more present than this picture shows.  

 

In addition to Anthony, Lori, Austin, and Destiny, Jeremy came!!  He had been in Amman, Jordan last week on a work assignment, but he had so hoped to come to this reunion that he actually had his friend Mike pick him up at the Dulles airport when he landed Saturday afternoon, and they came directly to our reunion!  But jet lag caught up with him, as well as the week of work looming ahead of him, and they left after breakfast Sunday morning.  Thus he is not on this picture that was taken later in the day.  

My sister Doris's large family was present, except for four.

Standing on the left are Doris's son Corey, his wife Christy, and their little ones Aiden and Zoe.  The big boy in back is Kim's 15-year-old son Andrew!  Next is Doris's daughter Greta with fiance Lynn.  Doris's daughter Marcy is in the wheelchair in front, her husband Scott is standing in the back right, and their daughter Paityn is front and center.  (They are expecting baby #2 this fall.)  Doris's oldest daughter Kim is sitting right next to Marcy.  Her husband Manny and daughter Laurencia were not there.  And in the middle front are Doris, her husband Dale, and their youngest daughter Ellen.  Also missing were Greta's twin Gina and her fiance Joe, who live in northern PA.  The rest of Doris's family lives in Lancaster County.

My sister Barb, her daughter Jill, and Jill's little ones came all the way from Idaho.  Here is Barb with Mary Ellen.  Mary Ellen was the master coordinator of the weekend.  She will be one very tired lady this week.  She lived most of her adult life in Virginia and Alabama, but after Janet's death moved back to Lancaster County.  Without her amazing efforts and attention to detail our family would not be half as connected as we are.

Barb's daughter Jill with her Jarrett and Brooklyn.  

Missing from Barb's family were her husband John, their older daughter Andrea and her husband Mike who live in Arizona, Jill's husband Travis, and Barb's sons Eric and Michael.  

Betty started her family later in life, so hers are still all under one roof in New Hampshire.

Scott and Betty with Isaiah and Merida.

Rose's family lives in Georgia.  They were all there except their oldest daughter Katie and her husband Matthew, who just got married in May and now live in North Carolina.

Standing are Maribeth, Christy, Matt, and Julia.

Seated are Rose, her husband Bob, and their youngest Olivia.

Once again, we were acutely aware of the absence of our dad.  Two years ago we made a supreme effort to have him there, quite sure it would be his last.  A couple of months later he passed away.  We talked this weekend of how much he would have loved seeing so much of the family together.  Here's a sweet picture from two years ago that we will cherish forever.

Our precious stepmother, Grandma Mary, was with us this year for Saturday.  She and her famous sugar cookies are usually the most popular items of the weekend!  Here she is with Jill's Brooklyn - the oldest and  youngest family members!

Now that you know who everyone is (!!) I'm going to post the rest of my weekend pictures without much commentary.  But before I do, I have to post one CLASSIC of the Witmer family in 1974!

Standing in back: Dick and I with Lisa, Doris and Dale (expecting Kim), Dick and Nancy, Janet and Elvin, Betty. 

Sitting on the sofa: Barb, Mother (who passed away in 1982), Dad, Rose, Mary Ellen.

Kneeling on the floor:  Dick and Nancy's sons, Steve and Richard, Janet and Elvin's son Scott and daughter Lori.