Wedding Belles :: Aunt Pat and Uncle Bob

The topic of the upcoming edition of Smile for the Camera is 'Wedding Belles' and since I have no family pictures (none, zilch, nada) of any ancestors in their full wedding regalia, these will have to do.



The photo on the left is one of my all time favorite family photos. They look like movie stars! It was taken in the spring of 1945 and is the engagement picture for my Aunt Pat and Uncle Bob.

The other photo was taken on the occasion of their 50th Wedding Anniversary in June 1995. Time took it's toll, they aren't as "glamorous" as they had been 50 years earlier, but they were still a nice looking couple. And they were both very nice people. Their two older children were about the same age as my brothers and I and we spent a lot of time at their place while growing up. They only lived a couple of miles from us until 1960 when we moved closer to North Webster.

Patricia Eileen Phend, the daughter of Victor and Hazlette (Brubaker) Phend, and Robert Glen Reiff, the son of Ralph and Lillie (Wissler) Reiff, were united in marriage on June 17, 1945 at the Larwill Methodist Church in Larwill, Indiana. Pat was born in Columbia City and Bob in Pierceton. In 1943, Bob enlisted in the U. S. Army. He served 6 months then the government thought he could better serve the country helping his parents on their farm.

Aunt Pat was a busy "stay at home" Mom while her four children were growing up. She, and they, were very active in school, church, and 4-H activities. After all of the kids were out of high school she worked for nearly 20 years as an attendant at the Mid-Lake Laundry in North Webster. Uncle Bob was a farmer, and for 36 years was also a bus driver for North Webster Schools, which in the late 1960s became a part of the Wawasee School Corporation. In addition to being a bus driver, Bob was also the head custodian at the school in North Webster. At that time, one building housed the elementary, middle school, and high school. (It was the same school that I and my siblings attended, as had my father. In fact, we had some of the same teachers!)

Uncle Bob passed away on February 17, 2000 and Aunt Pat still resides in the old farmhouse where they lived so many years together.