PAVILION AT MINERAL WELLS PARK
GUTHRIE, OKLAHOMA
(Picture provided by family member, Bill Brown)
“A PICNIC IN THE PARK”
Guthrie, October 3 - - It was a beautiful “Autumn Day” in Guthrie, Oklahoma as the Tontz families and guests gathered to celebrate the Tontz Family Reunion.
The reunion was held in the “Pavilion at the Mineral Wells Park” on Sunday, October 3, 2021. The theme “A Picnic in the Park” was in remembrance of the beginning of the Tontz Family Reunions as well as providing an outdoor venue. The on-going search has produced Tontz family reunion newspaper clippings in the Mineral Wells Pavilion for the years of
1942, 1945, 1948 and 1949. The quote in The Logan County News of August 27, 1942, “A picnic dinner was served at noon and the remainder of the day was spent informally,” reminds us to “enjoy” our visits.
Host family for this year was the Bross Family. The Louise (Tontz) and Eugene Bross’ children are Gloria Young, Donald and Tom Bross. Both of Louise’s parents, Florian and Rosina “Rose” Tontz were born in Seewis, Switzerland.
Brian McGuire welcomed family members and guests and thanked the host families. Brian led the family in prayer by reading the Lord’s Prayer in German - - the language used at the Evangelical Churches Reformed church attended by the family in Seewis, Switzerland.
Evangelical Churches Reformed church, Seewis, Switzerland
(Picture provided by family member Suzanne Holmes – 2004)
After lunch, Raymond Young read the names of those who had passed away since the last reunion. Brian McGuire asked for a silent prayer in their memory.
Those in remembrance were: Dr. Albert Brownlee, Tulsa; Janet Young Burkert, Lawrence C. Coburn, Ellen M. Richards, Guthrie; Virginia Tontz Cunningham, Wenatchee, Washington; Lois A. Gillett, Oklahoma City; Michael Leland Jackson, Enid, and Roland R. Richards, Portland, Oregon.
Sylvia Bross Friend presented gifts to family members that were the youngest, Amy Rogers, the oldest, Gloria Bross Young, and the one that traveled the farthest, Brian McGuire.
People in Attendance attending from Oklahoma: Bethany: Olivia Rogers and Paris Rogers; Choctaw: Beverly and Bill Anthony; Claremore: Guy and Brian McGuire; Crescent: Ginger Laxton, Shawn Pierce, Patty Wiggs, Tommy Wornick; Edmond: Joyce Tontz Jones, Carol Beery White, Ken and Kristin Boyett; Guthrie: Mary Jane (Tontz) Carey, Robbie and Sylvia Friend, Alma Hopkins, Len and Linda Tontz, Loy, Kacie, Gage and Kestin Tontz, Robert and Mary Jane Tontz, Gloria Young, Raymond and Carla Young, Virgil Young; Muskogee: Leslie and Susie Davis; and Oklahoma City: Ruth Tontz McGuire, Rosalie and Gary Rahe, Dana Richards, Chris Parker.
Bill Gillet requested that family members contact him to update the family genealogy.