Great Aunt Betty’s memorial gathering.

Here’s Aunt Betty as a younger girl.

Here are the 15 Whitmore children and their parents.  My grandmother, Helen, is third from the left.
(Update!  According to my mother, this was a celebration for my grandmother’s 40th birthday. See her comment below.)  

I love the fact that she still had her War Ration Book (I’ve never seen one before,) but I love even more that she was 4 feet 11 inches and 98 pounds.  I looked up the house address too.  It’s still there.

When you have 15 children, it’s not hard for gatherings to get this big.  My copy is blurry, but I think that’s my grandfather George second from the right, standing next to my Great-Grandmother.  My grandma is in the first standing row, six (!) from the left.  She’s wearing a dark colored dress.

More of the 15.  Not so well composed, as some of them are hidden.

This is a really fabulous photo of Aunt Betty.

As is this.  That’s Aunt Joanne standing next to Aunt Betty. 
(Update!  The problem with having 14 great aunts and uncles is you might have trouble with their names.  Mom says this is Aunt Margaret, not Aunt Joanne.) 

This is a picture of my grandmother and grandfather I’ve never seen before. I particularly love my grandmother’s coat, which I’m willing to bet she made.

A Jantzen Swimsuit!

This is the shirt Aunt Betty is wearing in a really fun photo of (nearly) all the Whitmore girls.  I’ve looked at that picture for years as it’s in my Aunt’s kitchen, so it was funny to see the shirt neatly folded among the memorabilia.

Then I hit gold!  Aunt Betty’s autograph book.  This is from a friend of Aunt Betty’s and I laughed at the saying.

From Uncle Harold.

My grandfather!  I was surprised to see him in this book because it was from 1936 and I didn’t realize he was around then. My grandparents didn’t marry until 1941.

Auntie Bea

Aunt Mary.  (Who is amusingly wicked in her entry)

Aunt Lucretia.

Because Aunt Betty loved ice cream, there was an ice cream shop.

This is Uncle Jack, who was married to Aunt Lucretia (the one from the autograph book).

Aunt Virginia (married to Uncle Harold), Aunt Janet (who was stubbornly looking away from the camera) Aunt Joanne, Aunt Mary.
I waited around until Aunt Janet didn’t notice me taking the picture.

A nice poem about the Whitmore Family.

4 thoughts on “Great Aunt Betty’s memorial gathering.”

  1. This is great. I missed some of these pictures while I was there. One thing that can be said of the Whitmore Family, they always had great fun at parties and gatherings. The second picture was taken at your grandmother"s fortieth birthday party. Everyone came out and surprised her. They each gave her a china teacup. I have some in my front room and many more in the attic. I always remember the sub floor was laid for the new house that day. Kind of like a barn raising but a floor raising instead.
    The bowling picture is Aunt Margaret instead of Aunt Joanne. They bowled in a league and often traveled to tournaments even coming to one in Boise. What a joy to grow up in this family. mom

  2. I love every single part of this. Great post! That picture of Betty with the cannon is fantastic. is that bathing suit made out of corduroy? If so, yikes! That seems like a poor choice for swimming material.

  3. Well thank goodness for my mother catching my Whitmore family errors. I've corrected the post above.

    I didn't actually touch the swimsuit and now I'm curious if it was corduroy. I assume it was some other thick swimsuit material, but am not sure.

  4. Wow! What an amazing post. I love that the family had all of the photos and memorabilia out. The photos are amazing. It makes me wonder what will be included at my funeral. Maybe a "computer" (of whatever ilk exists) with blog posts scrolling on it…

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