Reum Family Reunion

This past Sunday, immediately after church, I rushed north to Danvers, IL to attend the Reum family reunion. It had been quite a few years since I had been able to attend, so I was greatly looking forward to seeing many of the distant cousins I had remembered. The Reums are my mother's mother's father's family. One odd situation with this part of the family is that each branch pronounces the name differently. We've always said "Ream" or "Rhyme", while other cousins say "Room". There would always be a comical part of the reunion where each branch would count up the number of descendants that were present at the event and insist that their branch be called by the "correct name".

This year, we were blessed when a cousin stepped forward to share pictures and stories from her family's recent trip to Germany. She reconnected with some of our distance cousins in a town named Breitungen (or Altenbreitungen), in the former East Germany. The funny part? The entire town is filled with Reums....even having Reums marrying descendants of other Reums....and ALL of them pronounce the name "Roym". Who woulda thunk it? It seems we're having an identity crisis.

Our cousin in Germany (Anita Dohrer Reum) was wonderul to share much of the genealogy information she had found. Even though Anita's married name is Reum, the interesting part is that we are most closely related through Anita's mother's side of the family, the Dohrers. Please see one of my next posts which will include pictures and family tree information.

The day was ended with a nice ride around Danvers and a cemetery tour - provided by my great uncle Donald Lewis Reum. While I enjoyed seeing old homes and the stones of some of my ancestors and distant cousins, I sure wish I had remembered to bring a camera with me. Hopefully, next year.