Family reunions highlight history
The families of some of my school years friends were all in town in recent days for epic reunions to celebrate their families’ deep-rooted connections to Coeur d’Alene. The Shepperds and the Muellers go way back.
There were 59 descendants of Fred and Bula Mueller, who came to Coeur d’Alene in 1938 and owned Mueller Building Supply and Fuel at 219 Lakeside Ave. Fred and Bula were the parents of Lyn, Fred, Bill and Ed. This past week the grandchildren, great grandchildren and great great grandchildren of Fred and Bula, hailing from New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Florida, Texas, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and British Columbia came together for a week on the North Shore of Lake Coeur d’Alene.
The extended family headquartered in the Gumprect house on West Lakeshore Drive, which put them right in the center of the Art on the Green action at NIC and City Park and the opportunity to visit with old friends who were passing by all weekend. The family sported reunion shirts that replicated the Mueller Building Supply aprons worn back in the 1940s which prompted old timers to take note and share stories.
My friends, siblings Jahn Mueller Schmitz and Jon Mueller, did an extraordinary job in hosting and orchestrating the week which also included a visit to their grandparents’ former home at 714 Third Street. The house is now owned by Greg and Kareen Link, who graciously invited the Mueller clan to have a family portrait made there on Friday and opened their home to the family who had not been inside since 1974. It was a Wonderful Life moment.
Jahn described the “stunning finale” ... “the Cousins’ Chorus Choir of Angels concert on the front steps of The Gumprecht House. The Friday evening concert concluded with God Bless America, with passersby stopping on the sidewalk to remove their hats and join in.” Said Jahn, "Coeur d’Alene was golden for us this week."
Warren T. Shepperd was born near Troy, Idaho, in Latah County in 1883, seven years before Idaho became a state. He graduated from the U of I in 1910. He and Mildred (Dodge) Shepperd homesteaded a few miles south of Plummer in what was then Kootenai County.
In 1920 Warren became the business manager of Coeur d’Alene Mill with offices at the mill site on south Third Street and Tubbs Hill. The family moved to Coeur d’Alene that year and settled into their new home at 1110 Sherman Avenue. Their five children; Virgil, Hannah, Winifred, Warren and James, enjoyed growing up on the east end of town.
This past weekend four generations of Warren and Mildred’s family gathered to celebrate the 90th birthday of their last surviving child, James (Jim) Shepperd. Jim’s a World War II veteran and a longtime VFW member, well-known for his smile and generous heart ... and his stories. He regaled generations of Shepperds with plenty of stories and smiles on Sunday for his birthday celebration. Fittingly the party was red, white and blue themed and featured an All-American apple pie birthday cake. The patriarch of the Shepperd family was surrounded by his children, Linda Shepperd Schmidt and James, Jr. (Jim) Shepperd, their children and grandchildren, dozens of nieces and nephews and combinations of greats and grands from all over the country.
The photo taking included a re-creation of a cousin picture from 1964, the first time the 14 cousins of the Baby Boomer generation had all been together here in Coeur d’Alene in a half century. Treasured new memories being made while treasured old memories were being celebrated.
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In this week of celebrating some of the early families of Coeur d’Alene, on Monday the women of Laundry Night gathered at the beautiful Cougar Bay home of Roberta Larson who turned 80 on the eighth day of the eighth month.
Roberta’s grandparents homesteaded that piece of land on the north shore of Cougar Bay and Roberta was just three days old in 1936 when she came to live in the house she and her husband, David, have called home for decades.
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I have a love/hate relationship with August. I love that summer's finally here, but hate that the frenetic pace of trying to cram summer into a single month leaves me frazzled. On the upside it seems to be a month made for reuniting for high school classes and families when we’re blessed to live in such a beautiful place.
Tonight those lucky enough to have a ticket for the sold-out Fabulous Shadows double boat float on Lake Coeur d’Alene will be reliving some of the best days of our youth. If you were a teen here in the 1960s you knew the Fabulous Shadows as the cool guys who played slab dances in city park. Through the years these occasional reunions of the band always bring out a big crowd — for a brief moment in time we’re not Social Security-age senior citizens, we’re teenagers.
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Before I start this week’s birthdays I have to fall on my sword for overlooking a huge milestone for a great guy. Vic Eachon turned 90 this past Sunday and hopefully is celebrating all month long!
Happy birthday today to Jeff Grundon, Caryl Johnston, Sydney Sales, Jeremy Morris, Chelsea Cordova, Tim Symons and John Hammon.
Thursday birthday girls are Ann Seddon, Phyllis Berry, Erin Valente, Lisa Bell and Edith Uhl.
On Friday Joe Paisley, Jennifer Pitts, Ed Collins, Claudia Hurt, Deena Krobath, Roger Satefiel, Ronda Nash, Mariah Silva, Julie Hunt, Jennifer James and Nevaeh Witherspoon take another trip around the sun.
Mike Laverdure, Tery Garras, Michelle Coppess, Donna Flom and Bryan DeKeles are putting on their party hats come Saturday.
Mark Faulkner, Annette Nolting, Erin Elliott, Lisa Hutcheson (50!), Peter Faletto, Erin Reasor, Melinda Engel, Marla Lewis, Kevin Flaa, Elaine Damschen, Melinda Frost and Gene Mann will blow out their candles on Sunday.
Tracy Christopherson, Wayne Longo, Rick Currie, Mary Richter, Anne Couser and Thomas Sorci mark another year on Monday.
Wish a happy birthday to Brian Kirk, Debra Berlin, Andrea Fulks, Susan Selle, Jennifer Ross, Brandia Young, Leah Anton, Cindy Wagner, Kim Brown, Serena Carlson and Scotty Steele on Aug. 16.
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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email mainstreet@cdapress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kerrithoreson.