Family Tree
John and Helen CoffeyHelen Henstein and John W. Coffey, jr. met on a blind date in Ann Arbor, Michigan where Helen was working as a nurse and John was studying engineering.
They were married on December 21, 1950 in the Missouri Synod Church in Ann Arbor. John liked to joke that they chose the date because it was the longest night of the year! The bride wore a beautiful velvet gown that she made herself on the Singer sewing machine that she purchased with her first paycheck. She carried a beautiful bouquet of poinsettias that was fitting of the season. Her mother and sister, Agnes, took the train from Minnesota to Detroit to meet up with Georgine, another sister and her husband, Harvey. They attended the wedding as well as John’s father, mother and sister, Loessa. The wedding was also attended by several friends of the bride and the groom. The couple honeymooned at Lake Placid where Helen remembers skating and skiing. Next, they went to New York City and West Point. John and Helen enjoyed 58 years together. In their union, they raised four children that multiplied to 14 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild. The focus of their lives has always been the family that they started and that family continues to grow and flourish in the values that they nurtured together. Mark and Christine FayWe began the celebration of our wedding on August 1, 1980 with a feast at the Fay family lodge for the groom’s dinner. We were married the following day at our home church in Walker, Minnesota. The wedding was a traditional Lutheran service officiated by the bride’s father and attended by family and friends. We had a simple reception at the local country club where we danced and enjoyed the company of family and friends.
At dusk, we left the party, anxious for the honeymoon. We boarded the “something borrowed” cabin sailboat and launched it into the local lake. We made our way to a private bay, anchored, and reclined on the deck to reflect on the joy of having so many people sharing in the love we felt that evening. We were then to witness the most remarkable display of Northern Lights we had ever seen- the entire sky was dancing in colored light! The sails were singing in the gentle breeze. The air was warm and gentle upon the skin. The pine trees were silhouetted in splendor on the shore. Probably the loons were singing in the distance. It was if the entire heavens and earth were celebrating with us! It felt as if it was right by the whole universe that we spend the rest of our lives loving each other! What a night! Some may see fireworks on their wedding night, we saw Northern Lights….too! |
David and Virginia LindbergDave and Ginnie met at Lincoln School in Pendleton while in the sixth grade! That would have been 1944 and 45.
Dave was not interested in dating, spending his free time (while not helping his folks at the ranch) fishing and hunting with his wonderful buddies, Clarke Nelson, Bill Tubbs, John Ramming, and Wes Grilley. They had an enormous agenda of "Guy" things! Ginnie enjoyed school...her music....movies....dating. But her Mom, your great grandmother, Gladys Elizabeth Reid Milligan, who taught second grade at Lincoln School, persistently reminded Ginnie that "Dave Lindberg was the one!" How could that be? Our first date occurred after an honors assembly at PHS during which we were awarded the Citizenship Cup for that semester. D. asked G. if she'd like a ride home....(in his forest green Chevy pickup)....making Gladys very happy! We didn't make the Big Decision until the year we were Sophomores, D. at WSU, and G. at Oregon State. We married at St. Mary's Church in Pendleton, on June 9, 1953. That Fall we were in residence at Pullman, and lived there until Dave finished his M.S. degree during which time he did reasearch and teaching for the WSU Agronomy Department, and I worked at the WSU Business and Teacher Placement Center. He was a very polite, exhasperatingly intelligent, stubborn, kind, husband and father. On the occasion of his Master's oral exams, your Mom was born! D. always insists that his success with the Orals Panel was due entirely to their sympathy with the occasion of Shari's birth.!! Oh, nearly forgot! He was....and continues to be....very handsome. All my gal friends saw a resemblance to the actor, Gregory Peck, who was the matinee rage of that time Gladys was right, proven by our nearly 60-year marriage. And the only tragic irony of this is that due to a fatal accident, she was not able to see the fruition of her choice. Oh..and I should add....that Dave adored my Mom....and probably chose me because of her, too! Dave and Shari DallasI can see us now…a flurry of goodbyes and flying wheat…delicate Hungarian cut-glass—“Shari and Dave” engraved—nestled safe inside the groom’s tux…a swirl of lace…bride and veil tucked in…pop! clink! crunch!
Our December wedding day was crisp blue and bright, and every detail from the plaid and garland-festooned sanctuary to my junior high students—directed by a best friend, with the maid of honor at the piano—singing, “A Time For Joy,” to wedding-day mates, Millie and Wes, reading Corinthians and poetry is etched in my mind as perfect. A pocketful of crystal shards might portend rocky shoals; there have been moments of near-grounding, but thirty-three years later, our most beautiful work, Kari, Greggory, Davy and Joey—and its growing complexity with Andy and Josh and Scott and our Jenna—is a glowing, multi-faceted reflection of a beautiful life together. Dave and I love you, Jenna and Joey. |