Be Our Guest / Father Thomas Smith, O.F.M. Conv.

Smith family reunion celebrates ‘whose we are’ at Starlight

The vast majority of the 338 living descendants of Louis and Mary Bernadine (Dena) Smith gathered at St. John Church in Starlight on Oct. 14 to celebrate the 90th wedding anniver-sary of the patriarchs and enjoy a large family reunion.

It was a memorable, heartwarming event with many smiles and stories.

For the older members of the family, it was a special time to recall the grandparents who had touched their lives as children.

For the younger ones and the older relatives as well, it was a moment to be reminded “whose you are,” that we belong to a strong, large family with Catholic roots and a family tree that just keeps growing.

A committee with representatives of each of the 10 Smith sons and daughters did most of the planning. This involved getting updated information on all new family members, preparing a liturgy, planning the meal, and collecting old photos, movies and information to make a video.

Getting cooperation was easy because so many people wanted to be a part of the preparations.

The Ems family prepared beautiful flower arrangements for the church and the hall. The Jacobi family helped by providing wine for the Mass, pictures of the liturgy and an inflatable slide for the children to play on outdoors later that afternoon.

The Miller family coordinated the variety of foods brought by those participating and facilitated the meal. Gesweins organized the music for Mass as well as a series of mementos brought up before the liturgy. They also baked cakes, and managed to get pictures of aunts and uncles, almost 70 first cousins and each set of families.

The several Smith families pulled together the material to make a 45-minute video of family history with photos and movies taken more than 45 years ago. They also printed name tags listing the name of each child and adult, their parents, grandparents, etc., back to the original siblings to give us a clear sense of “who we belonged to” since it was impossible to know everyone’s name.

Others coordinated set-up duties, organized the displays of pictures and memorabilia, and provided family tree data with large ancestor trees and printed lists.

Some traveled a long distance to be present, but most still live in the southern Indiana area, especially around Starlight, Navilleton and St. Mary-of-the-Knobs.

Louis and Dena had 12 children—two of whom died during childhood—as well as 77 grandchildren, 170 great-grand-children, 90 great-great-grandchildren and two great-great-great-grandchildren.

With the spouses, perhaps 275 to 300 people attended the Mass and closer to 350 or more participated in the afternoon celebration.

During the Mass, relatives prayerfully remembered those members of the family who died. They also celebrated the strong witness of love and good health by blessing the marriages of the generation in which two couples are celebrating 65th wedding anniversaries this year, three couples have been married for 59, 58 and 56 years, and two other couples are marking their 50th anniversary this year.

The Smith family represents an amazing witness of 403 years of married life.

It never seems like there is enough time to even say hello to everyone at such a large gathering as this, but there is a warm sense of knowing that we are part of a wonderful family. The youngest relatives never knew Grandma and Grandpa Smith, but they have a better sense now of not just “who we are,” but also “whose we are.”

(Conventual Franciscan Father Thomas Smith coordinates Hispanic ministry in Floyd, Clark and Harrison counties in southern Indiana as well as St. Rita Parish in Louisville, Ky. He celebrated the Mass for his family reunion.) †