Reunions Past
July Fourth 2009 Reunion By Joe Elder
I would contribute that on the 4th of July weekend 2009, the descendants of John Henry Elder (1901-1990) and AnnaBelle Ernst Sharer Elder (1909-1987) held a family reunion in Alexis, IL.
Of John and AnnaBelle's five children and twenty-three grandchildren, the surviving children, Alice Coyleen (b. 1930), Mary Joan (b.1932) and John Keith (b. 1937), were in attendance and of the twenty-two surviving grandchildren, only one of them or a family representative was unable to attend. Also, in attendance was Freda Elder Clark. Ms. Clark would be the granddaughter to our great-uncle Joseph Bryan (1908-1982).
Attendees traveled from as far as
CA, OH, PA, WI, TX and MO.
John Keith and Judith Lynne Tyrrell Elder were the hosts for the weekend. We had planned to pray a rosary at the cemetery in Alexis, IL, but were unable to do so due to inclement weather, so we moved it to St. Theresa Catholic Church instead.
Mother Nature also moved our lunch to the basement of the church where we able to become reacquainted and get caught up with so many of our cousins. On Saturday, we visited more at John and Judy's and many friends of the family stopped by throughout the day and into the night to say "Hello".
On Sunday morning, many of those
hundred-plus in attendance attended
Mass at St. Theresa. After Mass, John and Judy once again hosted lunch before we all had to go back to our old worlds. Many laughs were had and some great stories relating to our grandparents were shared.
