Joel Estes Family & Descendants

Tribute to WANDA IONE MOYER

2010-06-12T14:58:00.001-07:00

Wanda Ione Moyer was born July 14, 1920, in Torrington, Wyoming to Edson and Fern Estes Moyer. This year will be her 90th birthday and as far as we can determine, is the oldest living member of Joel Estes' descendants. She is a third great granddaughter of Joel and Patsy and a descendant of Francis Marion, 12th child of Joel and Patsy.

She has two daughters - Ronda Pratt (Dean) of Spokane Washington and Dallas Hincks of Boise, Idaho, four grandchildren Kerry Toney (David) of Spokane, Kyla, Karisa and Dakota Hincks of Boise, and four great grand daughters, Cynthia, Alyssa and Callie Toney and Abigail Haynes.

As with many Estes, she spent her early years moving, mostly up and down the Platte River valley from Torrington to Kearney and all stops in between. The frequent changes in towns and schools made her an adaptable and friendly person that has stood her in good stead. She survived the Depression with a struggle as did most of the people around her. She remembers with embarrassment yet, having a school physical, which required her to remove her sweater to reveal her only and too small dress which was split up the back. She also remembers days of blowing black dust and a kindly neighbor who came to take them in with his family so they wouldn’t be alone.

The thirties were also the time of the big bands and Wanda loved to dance. Even after working a 12-hour day, she would be off to the Saturday night dance. She said even the young ones would have a dance and set out a couple. This is Nebraska in the summer before any air conditioning.
She was always an avid reader until macular degeneration has robbed her of her sight.

She graduated from Scottsbluff High School in 1939 and the same month married Harold Millsap of Torrington.

During the draft of World War II, Harold changed from working on the railroad to farming with his father north of Torrington and then began the city girl’s 16-year stint as a farm wife.

Harold was killed in a train accident at Holly Sugar Factory in 1957. This left her a widow with young girls, Ronda and Dallas, to raise.

In May of 1962, she married Mike R. McKelvey and they lived in Torrington until Mike retired from the Wyoming Highway Department and they moved to Mesa, Arizona for 16 years. They enjoyed traveling and motor biking.
Mother loved to play pinochle and bowl and had a mean eye as a pool player.

As a small girl, she almost drown but was rescued by someone grabbing her by her long hair. In Arizona, she overcame her fear and learned to swim.

As Mike’s health started to deteriorate they returned to Torrington where he died in 1997.
With failing eyesight, Mother decided to move to Spokane, Washington to be near her oldest daughter, Ronda.

She is currently residing at Royal Plaza Retirement Center, 302 E. Wedgewood, Spokane, WA 99208. Her phone is 509-484-5593 if anyone would care to call and wish her well.

2009 EFA NEWSLETTER

2009-12-05T12:27:00.000-08:00

It has been agreed upon that the entire newsletter not be put on this blog, in fairness to those who have paid their EFA dues.
I am putting in the hi-lites of the newsletter. I hope you will enjoy it enough to decide to pay dues (only $15.00 for 5 years!), so you can enjoy ALL the newsletter. You'll find Jack's mailing address in the right column.
If your dues are paid and you want to receive it by email, please email me at related2me@yahoo. com and I will put you on the newsletter email list for future newsletters.

Estes Family Association
Estes Park, Colorado 1859-2009
November 2009 - Issue 34

Family Celebrates Sesquicentennial of Estes Park
by Colleen Estes Cassell, Chairman

The Estes Family celebration of the Sesquicentennial (150 years) of Estes Park was a great success. The first item on the agenda was participation in the Estes Park Rooftop Rodeo Parade on July 7th. The theme of the parade was "Women of the West and the Men Who Loved Them." Who better to represent both parties than Patsey and Joel...
The Estes Park Museum curator, Derek Fortini, and Colleen set up a special display in the lobby of the museum using artifacts and pictures from the Estes Family...
We were all pleasantly surprised that in spite of deciding at the last minute to hold the reunion in July of 2009, we had the best turnout since our original in 1981...
...Thursday evening was a great success. Sandra Moravec and her husband and sisters, Frances Estes and Marjorie Lilley and their families once again hosted a Barbecue at Sandra's beautiful Estes Park home...
Friday, everyone showed up to have the group picture taken at the high school stadium. It turned out great!...
Following the picture taking, we had our potluck picnic...
Saturday afternoon, the museum arranged for a terrific slide show...
James Pickering, who has written several books about Estes Park- "This Blue Hollow", "America's Switzerland", "Estes Park Then and Now" presented the program...
...the reunion banquet was held at 5 p.m.
After our dinner, we held a short meeting...we found that the oldest family member was Marjorie Newman (86), who came from Torrington, Wyoming...our youngest attendee was Colleen's great grandson, Kellen Johnson, 11 months old, from Maple Valley, Washington...
The next reunion is planned for 2014. We voted to use just one color for the T-shirts next time...
On Sunday, about 30 people met at Mary's Lake Lodge for brunch.

--By the Numbers--
by Jack Estes
Reunion attendees came from 11 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming...
Five branches of the Joel Estes family were represented... : Milton, Martha Ann, Francis Marion, Newton, and Lovey. Next time, we need to work hard to get some other branches involved...

Help Wanted
The EFA newsletter can be printed more often and more informatively with your help. We'd like to distribute family news such as births, marriages and deaths to help you keep your genealogy records up to date. The newsletters are also more interesting if they included articles you have written, such as family reminiscences or reports of your genealogy research. Historian Kathy Garcia is anxious to record such information. This information is available to us only if you submit it. You can send it to any EFA officer, [see right-hand column for addresses]. So keep those cards and letters and photos coming!
...not everybody has a computer, and those who do sometimes change addresses, so we'd like to continue trying to reach you by U.S. mail...
Vice Chairman Rae Price has professional experience publishing newsletters, this issue is her first shot at improving our EFA product through editing and formatting. We hope you like it! [If you are not on the mailing list you missed out on a great newsletter!]

Financial Report
by Jack Estes
The Treasurer's report given at the reunion included: The current EFA mailing list is 77 households, 15 of which are behind in dues. Several households were dropped from the list after their dues became delinquent back into the 1990's or because their mail was returned with no forwarding address...

EFA dues
Estes Family Association dues are $15 per household. Please remit payment so we can continue to provide you information about the family. The dues are used for reunion deposits and expenses and newsletter postage.
Please send dues to Jack Estes (address in right column).

Address Changed?
Please help us keep accurate records by letting us know if your mailing address or e-mail address has changed.

OCTOBER 2009 EFA HONOREE

2009-09-23T20:35:00.000-07:00

GETTING TO KNOW YOU
MARJORIE WELLS NEWMAN

Marge was born on July 22, 1923 in Deaver, WY to Floyd Harrison Wells and Bernice Palmer. She is a Great Granddaughter of Martha Ann Estes, 5th child of Joel and Patsey Estes.

Marge grew up in Deaver, graduating from high school in 1940. She went on to college and graduated from the University of Wyoming at Laramie in 1944.

She married Keith Newman on November 8, 1947 in Reno, NV.
They have six wonderful children, 3 girls and 3 boys: Jean Marie (Bedord), Neil Eldon, Blair Evan, Ross Lee, Alice Arlene (Sibbitt), and Nancy Anne (Reiber). She has eight grandchildren, but as yet, no great-grandchildren.

Marge has lived in Wyoming and California. Her favorite color is Green, and as she puts it so wonderfully, "for everything that grows!!" She loves to spend her time with family and friends, church activities, and traveling.

Of course her favorite food is beef since she is in the beef business.
She enjoys reading autobiographies and history books, and finds herself reading more now that she has a little more time on her hands.

Congratulations, Marjorie. It is so good seeing you at the reunions and getting to know you...see you in 2014!

Our official Estes Family Reunion picture 2009

2009-08-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

If you came to the reunion...can you find you? If you weren't there...we missed you! What a group! Hope everyone had as much fun as I did...can't wait for the next one...it's going to be a long five years. See you in 2014!

2009-08-11T19:30:00.001-07:00

CLIFFORD EUGENE SMELCER

2009-08-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

(I added something new at the end. Kathy)

Or as he prefers, and is known among family and friends as "Bromo"...our HONOREE for the month of August, 2009.

Bromo was born on August 19, 1924 to Benjamin Joseph Clifford Smelcer and Katherine Josephine Schuck on a ranch in Garfield County, Washington. He grew up in Baker County, Oregon.

His father was a rancher and worked in sawmills. His mother was a teacher and homemaker.

He was a Private in the Army-Armored Cavalry, serving on the Island of Saipan during WWII.

His first marriage, to Audrey Mulholland resulted in three children: Sheila Marie (married to Thomas Day), Clifford Scott (passed away in 1997), and Gary Dwayne (married Judy), all being born in Sacramento, CA. Audrey passed away in 1984 in Klamath Falls, OR.

He married Irene Hoffman in August 1985, and she passed away in 1998.

Bromo is a "man on the move" as his fore-father, Joel Estes, was. Bromo has lived in Washington, Oregon, Utah, Montana, California, and Nevada. At least we've been able to keep him west of the Mississippi!

He is a "born to bowl", many award-winning, talented cousin. That is his favorite thing to do! He also likes to create with his hands objects of use and pleasure, along with traveling.

When Nan can get him to stay home, he loves to watch Western movies or read Western novels. If he watches T.V., he enjoys learning as much as he can from National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, and Animal Planet.

When it's time to get up and move, he likes to vacation in Laughlin, Nevada on the Colorado River near Arizona. He also enjoys the Oregon coast, visiting, relaxing, and sight-seeing.

Bromo's favorite color is blue. And if you feed him beef, most any vegetable, and lemon meringue pie, you'll be on his "favorites" list, too!

[HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BROMO!...and may you have many, many more!]

Sorry, Bromo, I wanted to add one more thing that I left out...and that is a
VERY BIG THANK YOU
for serving as the EFA CHAIRMAN from 1989 to 2004! What a fete! That's 15 years, by gosh!!

2009-08-01T18:38:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-08-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a great time at the Sesquicentennial (150 years) Reunion. We did!

Our next reunion is scheduled for five years, 2014 (155 years).
Everyone has plenty of time to prepare for that one!
The EFA CHAIR will stay the same until the next reunion.

Come back and check this blog out every month...I'll be posting pictures,
and honouring our cousins that attended the reunion that are 80+.

I'll post any new information that comes my way, also.

Kathy - EFA Historian

Estes Newsletters

2009-07-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
I'm posting something from the last EFA Newsletter in hopes you can spread the word to those on the list so we can get new information on them:
"Because their recent newsletters have been returned, the following have been dropped from the mailing list:
LOYAL KAY BAHRKE, WILMA NORBERT COX, TERRY CLIFTON, JAMES MASON, VIRGINIA NUTT, LOUISE SCHNECKLOTH, JOHN WEDLAKE."
If you have any information on them please contact me at related2me@yahoo.com.
Thanks,
Kathy
P.S. Please see sidebar for needed email updates.

Letter from Phyllis Young-DeBaecke

2009-07-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

June 24, 2009
I am proud to announce I am now a great grandmother for the first time. My son's son and wife just brought a 4 lb. 15oz. little girl into the world and her name is Kayla Alison Young.
That makes it 4 girls in our family and 6 boys. I have one boy and one girl but they have both outdone me with children and I love them all.
I am looking forward to the reunion and will be getting into Denver on the 20th of July and on to Estes Park on the 23rd so hope to see you then.
Thanks for all the info you [and the EFA Chair] put out for us who haven't been together for several years and so glad we have this web site.
Phyllis Young-DeBaecke

2009-06-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

First and formost: WE ARE CELEBRATING THE SESQUICENTENNIAL - 150 YEARS since Joel Estes discovered Estes Park!
We are having our next reunion in Estes Park, CO starting on Thursday, July 23, 2009 with registration from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Estes Park Museum.
Following at 6 p.m. will be a B-B-Q at the home of Sandy Moravec, 325 Saddleback Lane, Estes Park.
On Friday, July 24th, we are having the pot-luck picnic from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the large shelter at Stanley Park. Everyone is asked to bring a dish to share.
On Saturday, July 25th at 2 p.m. there will be a presentation by Dr. James H. Pickering on the founding of Estes Park, at the Estes Park Museum.
At 6 p.m. is the Buffet dinner at the museum. Pre-paid reservations are $13. A business meeting will follow the dinner.
Sunday, July 26th at 9:30 a.m. is the Buffet getaway brunch at the Mary's Lake Lodge. Pay at the door. Price is $10.95.
Note: Pre-registration closed on June 10th.

If you are not able to attend our family reunion this year, you will sorely be missed! And we all hope to see you at the next reunion...date TBA after this reunion.

Jack has informed the Chair that the pre-registration attendance is up this year from the last couple of reunions. That's great...we hope more of you will have the desire to attend the next one, too.

On the side - my family is thinking about going miniture golfing or bowling (or maybe a movie) Friday evening after the picnic...if you are interested, please let me know, we would love to have you join us.

Kathy

P.S. You can add your comment to this post by clicking on comments below. I believe you need to open a google account to do so, but it's free and you'll be able to leave comments on any blog.