Anton and Johanna Penne celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on October 6, 1951
Anton and Johanna Penne celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on October 6, 1951 with a formal event the next day. The occasion began at 10 o'clock mass at St. John the Evangelist church in Milwaukee and included songs "Oh Beautiful Mother Mary Help Us" and "Oh Mary Through the Life" in Slovenian. St. John the Evangelist was founded in 1916 by Slovenian immigrants and just last week celebrated their 100th anniversary. At the time of its founding, it was one of eight slovene parishes in Wisconsin. I attended the church as well as a child, often listening to the priest speak in some kind of slovene/english combination, when visiting my grandparents however by that time it had relocated from Walker's Point (just a couple blocks from my grandparent's home to Greenfield.
Johanna, Anton and Father Sipek at the dinner hall.
In the afternoon, their children Anne and Don Hiller (my grandparents), Frank and Mary Penne, Al and Olga Penne, Louis and Fran Penne, Johnny and Wanda Penne and son-in-law Frank Zupancic (Mary, their oldest daughter had died the previous year) gave a reception held at the Collins-Meyer Post Hall.
About 400 relatives and friends were present for this memorable occasion-much larger than even most weddings these days.
Anna Kerze (Johanna's sister and Carolyn's grandmother), Johanna, my mother, Barb Hiller and one of her cousins.
A few years back, I was gifted a box of 8mm film and film projector from John Penne's estate. Most of the film has been digitized now and one reel contained scenes from the anniversary celebration. You will see everyone leaving the church and greeting my great-grandparents-my mother and her twin sister at the very beginning, my grandparents and all my great aunts and uncles. I recognize many faces however many I do not. (Any help would be appreciated, just comment below.)
What a treasure this box of film reels has been!
Another photo from the day
Although this event happened ten years before my birth, I've been able to "time travel" to that joyous day when my great-grand parents, along with family and friends, gathered on October 7, 1951 to celebrate the vow they made to each other fifty years before.
Newspaper announcement in slovene (Johanna never learned English).
References
St. John the Evangelist anniversary: http://washington.embassy.si/index.php?id=814&L=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=28440&cHash=c97735dc03dcb20c5388aaa19be43ed2