1950's Wedding Photo Project

 I discovered this photo this year after my cousin Andrea sent it over from her parents attic. It's clearly a wedding picture from the 1950s-- I recognized the grandfather instantly (4th from right) and then his father is directly in the middle behind the bride and groom. I also recognized the girl far left, but wasn't sure how I recognized her. So, my next mission was to find out who's wedding it was and who was who and that's what I did.

Process of elimination-- the first thing I did was look up Paul's siblings. Paul is my grandfather. It was easy to determine that the groom was Paul's brother Richard Jeckering once I saw his yearbook photo-- 

Richard and Paul went to Chaminade High School in Dayton, Ohio. They were in the same graduating class of 1944.

Richard married Donna Jean Berning on September 6, 1952. An article was posted a day later in the Dayton Daily News newspaper:

The article states the wedding party as:

Best Man: Paul Jeckering

Ushers: Robert Berning, Robert Jeckering, Ernest Winner, William Scherer

Maid of Honor: Joan Berning

Bridesmaids: Janice Koester, Rita Horstman, Joanne Jeckering, Rosemary Jeckering

Flower Girls: Connie Brinkman & Linda Chmiel

As far as Richard's immediate family, I had this picture to reference, so it was easy to pinpoint Joanne and Rosemary. 

The other members, I used yearbook photos or other news article to pinpoint who was who in the photo. 

Usher, Robert Jeckering's yearbook photo was the easiest- I recognized it right away from the Chaminade Yearbook:

As for the flower girls, I researched Connie Brinkman in the brides family because I knew that Connie's mother's maiden name was Brinkman. I found out that Connie's uncle Ralph B. Brinkman had a daughter named Connie, born in 1944. The name and age matched up to the flower girl on the right. Obviously, there were only two flower girls, so the other girl had to be Linda. I found a Linda Chmiel in a Lach family tree (1948-2014)- would have been age 4 at the wedding.

Wedding party numbered for reference:

1. Bridesmaid- Joanne Ethel Jeckering (age 18), my grandaunt 

2. Bridesmaid- Rosemary Jeckering (age 22), my grandaunt

3. Flower Girl- Linda Chmiel (age 4) (unknown relation to bride & groom)

4. Bride- Donna Jean Berning (age 21)

5. Flower Girl- Connie Brinkman (age 8), Bride's 1st cousin

6. Bridesmaid- Janice Koester (unknown age or relation to bride)

7. Bridesmaid- Rita Horstman (age 19) (Identified by yearbook photo)

8. Usher- Robert Berning (age 17), Bride's Brother

9. Best Man- Paul George Jeckering (age 27), My Grandfather (he died 2 years after this photo was taken)

10. Usher- Robert Cletus Jeckering (age 18)- my grandfather's 1st cousin (Identified by yearbook photo)

11. Groom- Richard Cletus Jeckering (age 26)- my granduncle

12. Father of Groom- Gerhard C. Jeckering (age 52), my great grandfather

13. Usher- William Scherer (unknown age)

14. Maid of Honor- Joan Catherine Berning (age 23)- Bride's Sister

15. Usher- Ernest Winner (age 20)-- Ernest and Joanne (1st bridesmaid) get married in 1954, two years later.

Richard and Donna were married until Donna's death in 2000. Richard died in 2017. Together, they had 5 children together: Christine, Timothy, Julie Ann, Patrick, and Jill.