The Souhrada Family
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From: Leota Campbell Anderson
August
13, 2007 Dear Souhrada Family,
How
time flies by!!! It’s hard to believe that this is our 27th Annual Souhrada
Family Reunion. Milt and I are sorry that we cannot be with you today but
please know our loving thoughts will be with all of you as you gather
together to share the happenings in your lives with one another - bringing
you closer together in this Souhrada Family. My
mind is going back 27 years ago to what brought about the very first reunion.
I was attending my Aunt Anna Souhrada Rassman’s funeral in the latter part of
May 1981 when my cousin Donna Souhrada Urman -- (whom I only knew from seeing
her at occasions like this) approached me and said her brother Dalyn Souhrada
was there and would like to meet me. That conversation with Dalyn resulted in
his inviting all the Souhrada cousins present at our Aunt Anna’s funeral to
come to his farm the next day. The cousins who gathered at Dalyn & his
wife Phyllis’ farm home that day were Bill & Hazel Rassman, John &
Donna Souhrada Urman, Marvin & Marlys Souhrada Gronwoldt, and my late
husband George Campbell and myself. We were all in agreement that it was
necessary to hold a first Souhrada Cousin Reunion in order to come to know
all the many, many grandchildren of Vaclav &
Katherine Souhrada. That reunion took place the following month, June 28,
1981 at my home in Bloomington, Minnesota. Twenty eight people attended,
eight of these were first cousins - the others were their children and a very
special guest - Libby Souhrada Prochaska, our aunt and only living child at
that time of Vaclav & Katherine. Dalyn & Phyllis volunteered to host
our second gathering at their farm home in rural Lime Springs, Iowa the next
year. The
following year Emil Souhrada & his wife Ardis and their daughter, Jane
hosted the third cousin reunion at their country farm home in rural Chester,
Iowa. In sending the invitation for this they thought of reunions that had
been held around Oxford Junction, Iowa that our parents and grandparents had
attended - and invited relatives from that area too. As a result the attendance included: Elizabeth Vanicek, who was my mother’s cousin from Oxford Junction, Gordon & Velma Vanicek & their daughter-in-law Barb and her daughter Anne from Davenport, Iowa and John & Nelda Vanicek and their daughter Elizabeth from the Muskego, Wisconsin. Little did we know that day that Elizabeth Vanicek Gotstein, a young child at this time, would be would be hosting this 27th reunion today. What a delightful addition these people made to our gatherings. From then on any one on our Souhrada Family Tree that we could find received an invitation making our reunions not just a Souhrada Cousin Reunion but a Souhrada Family Reunion.
Our
records show that Frank
& Dorothy Souhrada from Greeley, Colorado attended our sixth, eighth,
and tenth reunions and their son Frank C. Souhrada III attended the tenth and
brought with him the following year his wife Linda. Frank and Linda were a
part of many of our family members who searched in the land of me Czech
Republic for the roots of our Family Tree. In October 1990, Frank
& Linda found Dolni Novosedly #2, the farm home of our ancestors that
had been standing for 120 years at that time. This led to finding our cousin,
Jiri Souhrada and his wife,
Vera, their two sons, Tomas and Pavel and Anezka and Marie Souhrada. What a
find this was!!! Leota Campbell Anderson |
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