Don and Anne Hiller, July 6, 1935
Eighty-three years ago, this month, my grandparents Don Hiller and Anne Penne were married. I would like to honor that day and their memory by sharing their 25th wedding anniversary book which was given to me by a family member. Don and Anne were married on July 6, 1935 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. My grandmother was Catholic however my grandfather was not thus making a church ceremony impossible. I believe they were married by a priest but not within the church walls but possibly in the rectory (?). The album has been scanned, cover-to-cover, with the pages kept in exact order. I hope you really take time to enjoy all this book has to offer; notes, photos, cards and signatures of family members who attended; my Grandma would be delighted. Her Catholic faith was extremely important to her (Grandpa got on board with this later) and I know she always wished she could have been married in the church with a traditional wedding dress. Subsequently, anytime they were able to get their vows renewed inside the church, they did! This day was very special to them both. My Grandpa died exactly 6 months before their 50th wedding anniversary and although I didn't think about that at the time, July 6, 1985 must have been a sad day for my Grandma. What a party that would have been!! Polka, polka, polka.
As you glimpse through be sure to hover the mouse over the individual pages for any descriptions. For ease of reading, an excerpt of pages five and six are as follows:
How Our Day Was Spent
July 6, 1960
Our children Don, Mary Anne and Barbara Anne made the anniversary party possible.
"We went to St. John’s Cathedral to Mass and Holy Communion. It was the mass for the apostolate of suffering. It was just beautiful. We shall never forget it. We came home at 11:45 am and had lunch and then we started to get some lunch ready for a gathering at Penne’s Haven that night. We invited all the relatives and friends who had anything to do with the 25th anniversary surprise party they gave us on June 26th, 1960, one of the most memorable events in our married life. Everyone present had a grand time. We have never danced so much as we did that night. We were told we were going to a wedding shower and we were supposed to bake and tend bar (which we did) HaHa. I wore a beautiful orchid my husband had a boutonniere so did our children Don, Mary Anne, Barbara Anne, Robert and Bill and my Dad Anton Penne. Of course the girls had pink carnation corsages. Our very good friends Catherine Lesatz and Mary Christianson were the ones who really started our party but the family, my brothers, sister-in-laws and friends really pitched in helping, baking and cooking, taking care of the bar and other things that made our party a big success. Thanks to all of them and God bless them always. They will always be remembered in our hearts. July 9th we had our marriage vows renewed at St. John the Evangelist Church. Our grandson was also in church with us, bless him. Again, we wore a beautiful orchid and white carnation. Father Claude also blessed our rings (this is the first ring my Don had and I placed it on the wrong hand). Our family and Anton Penne, my Dad, all received Holy Communion and took some pictures outside of the church. Came home to have breakfast then we all went to Penne’s Haven and left our grandson Robert Jeffery with John and Wanda while we all went to the Black Steer to have a delicious steak dinner. In the evening we went to Arcadian Inn". Anne Hiller.
For Fun:
The Black Steer Restaurant. Grandma mentioned this restaurant when writing "How Our Day Was Spent".