Weddings, Engagements, Hurricanes, and Earthquakes… a veritable whirlwind of family happenings to report. For now, we’ll file a brief update with more detail to follow once this observer has recuperated fully from the end-of-summer festivities.

Last weekend, Will and Christina Skinner were married in an extraordinarily beautiful and fun weekend-long celebration in Princeton NJ. There was a large family turn-out for the event which took place at the beautiful Princeton University chapel. Select photos (thanks to Liza Halcomb) are shown below with many more to follow. Will and Christina are honeymooning in Hawaii at this writing. All our best wishes to the newlyweds!

 

Christina and Will, Wife and Man

The (newly configured!) Skinner Family

 

The magic of the moment proved contagious with Will’s sibling Suzanne succumbing to the entreaties of suitor Stephen Forster, a wonderfully resilient young man who withstood intact the rigors of a full Category 5 family gathering. Stephen and Suzanne hereby announce their engagement!. The usual suspects, final picture below, eagerly await a repeat of last weekend’s spectacular. A warm welcome as well as congratulations to Stephen and all of our very best wishes to Suzanne.

 

On Deck, Stephen and Suzanne (center in melee)

Usual Suspects Locked Down during Skinner Wedding

 

Final (for now) alert. Molly and Gareth Wynn Owen and new clanswoman Alicia will visit the family headwaters in early September, when Aunt Eleanor and Uncle Ralph are hosting a party in St Louis for the Armenian trio. We hope to post photos of that visit for the family at large.

Fanfare!!! Birthday Greetings to Sophie (Florence T Gonzales) Skinner. Note: Not all clanfolk have birthday acknowledgements – only Goddaughters!

Hasta Luego Vaceros,

LC

Both the Alicia Withers’ Memorial and the annual Skinner migration to Missouri coincided this Memorial Day Weekend, bringing together an especially large contingent of clansmen. Thanks to Bill (Doc) Cromie we have great still and video coverage of the weekend that we post here. Highlights of the weekend included Aunt Sarah Fehlig’s Sunday luncheon at Moone Athy on the 29th of May, as well as the Jack Cromie trail walk. The family visited Jack’s memorial site where a bench in memory of Rebecca Hollo has been placed across from Jack’s Spinning Cycles triolet.

 

Rebecca Hollo’s Bench

Jack Cromie’s Triolet

 

Video highlights and a photo ‘wall’ from the weekend follow. If video and photo wall do not appear, refresh this page on your browser

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The 3D wall below is best seen at full screen – see bottom right arrow buttons on the wall itself – hit ESC to leave full screen mode.

Our Memorial Day weekend in St Louis was very special this year in many respects, a bittersweet gathering of many family members who came together to commemorate both departures and arrivals, bidding farewell to Alicia Withers, recollecting fondly both Jack Cromie and Rebecca Hollo, and welcoming our lovely and gifted new family member Christina Parajon, soon-to-be Christina Skinner.

 

Christina and Will at Skinner Reunion, May 2011

 

As we are well aware, the women of our tribe are indeed formidable. With the recent preponderance of boy progeny we had a brief glimmer of hope to restore the balance of power. But now, along comes Christina. Boys, we are in deep trouble. Why? Well, here are the cold facts. Christina is from Wilmington, Delaware. She met Will at Princeton where she attended the Woodrow Wilson School. After graduation, she worked for a think tank in Washington that provided the status report for the Baker/Hamilton Committee. She attended Yale Law School where she was the Executive Editor of the Yale Law Review. She is presently clerking in Wilmington for Justice Ambro, a federal judge on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals and next year, she will clerk for a federal district judge in New York. Need I say more? I think we are lost! And to add salt to these wounds, she is not only smart but beautiful, and a delight.

Maybe the following generation can put things into proper order….

In subsequent postings I plan to put up photos for the clan from this very fun weekend – sorry to be so far behind, but stay tuned…

An elegant memorial service for Alicia Polk Withers was held on the 28th May. Anne Dollimore, Sarah Hollo and Eleanor Withers, together with their spouses and families, did a superb celebration of the life of their mother. Here is a short video of the highlights of the event for those that were not able to attend.

As evident, a remarkable number of friends and relatives attended the ceremony at St Joseph’s Church in Clayton Missouri. Following the ceremony a beautiful reception was hosted at the home of Eleanor and Ralph. A complete transcript of Ralph’s moving eulogy has been posted in the Eulogy section of our Library, accessible here.

Here are updates regarding the Chambers/Mullanphy tribes that you may find of interest. First, the Fourth International Reunion of the Ó Maolanfaidh extended family is being held this June in London Ontario. Here is Ninian Mellamphy’s announcement of the event – I am remiss in not posting this earlier:

“Dear Members of the extended Ó Maolanfaidh family:

I thought that the Feast of all Saints would be an ideal day to write a note of invitation to the fourth international reunion of the Ó Maolanfaidh family, which will take place in London, Ontario, Canada on the first weekend of June, 2011 (June 3-6).

Many of us will remember that one of the first of our namesakes to be mentioned in early medieval documents was the founder of a seventh-century monastery at the mouth of the Blackwater river in Ireland (near modern Youghal, Co. Cork) and was venerated as Saint Maolanfaidh. God knows how many of us—Malamphys, Molamphys, Molanphys, Melanphys, Mullamphys, Molumphys and at least 30 other English-language derivatives of the Irish name—claim direct descent from him.

The three earlier reunions took place in Frederick, Maryland (2001), the next at Coolbawn Quay, County Tipperary (2005), the third in Waiheke Island, New Zealand (2008) and all three were happy gatherings of people from various parts of Ireland, England, Australia, New Zealand, as well the USA and Canada. We look forward to meeting additional cousins from South America and, let’s hope, South Africa, as well as the old reliables.

Please find attached a proposed plan for the activities of the weekend—a plan that is very preliminary indeed. In the weeks and months ahead we look forward to getting suggestions from you about events and activities you might like to have added.

In order to help us develop plans for the reunion, would you be so kind as to let me know by Christmas if you are tempted be here in June – or by the feast of Saint Maolanfaidh, January 30,
at the latest?

Ninian”

If any OurRumpians are interested in attending this event contract me here and I will forward current lodging information that Ninian has sent us. This sounds like a very well organized outing that would be fun for the genealogists amongst us.

In similar vein, Jennie Quick has forwarded a fascinating link that provides family history about the Charles Chambers and John Mullanphy families. It appears in the July 1908 edition of The Messenger, page 59, which can be accessed here. The title page of this Fordham University publication is shown below.

LC

A momentous yet terse note from Will Skinner provides a magnificent start for 2011:

Happy new Year! I wanted to write to share the good news. Christina and I got engaged yesterday in NYC. I’ve attached a few photos from our day.

Best,

Will and Christina

Here are a pair of photos from NYC of Will and Christina on their big day. Intense Excitement in NYC – and Alexandria as well. Congratulations to our newest clan couple.

 

A Particularly Happy New Year

What Snow?

 

We look forward to meeting Christina soon – perhaps the annual Skinner Reunion May 2011??? That would be great if this busy couple could manage it! Best of luck to Will and Christina!

“Dr. Paul Tatum Practices the Heart & Soul of Family Medicine”. Thus begins this winter’s edition of the U. of Missouri Family and Community Medicine newsletter. In it, Trey (aka Paul, husband as you well know, of Helene Fehlig Tatum) is the featured physician, receiving accolades from his patients and colleagues. A typical comment: “Paul’s infectious enthusiasm, intense curiosity, and serious playfulness make him a wonderful physician and friend. And his sensitive, compassionate, and contemplative nature makes him well suited for hospice and palliative care.”

Trey’s accomplishments since returning to the University of Missouri in 2008 are numerous. He has received a Geriatric Career Award providing him a grant for academic work in “Improving Transitions of Care with Interdisciplinary Teams.” In 2010 he also had several publications, including co-authoring chapters on Hospice and Spirituality and End-of-Life Care in a book “Care of the Dying Patient.” He is also a contributor to the blog Geripal.

Keep up the great work Trey – we are proud of what you do, and since your relocation to Columbia, we now have the added bonus of seeing the Tatum Tribe more frequently at Moone Athy.