Recent News Articles...

Two articles of interest appeared in the Grand Island Independent newspaper recently... The first article concerns our cousin Darwyn Buettner (Alfred and Frieda Reher Buettner's son) and the second article concerns our cousin Sylvia Peters' husbands family (Sylvia is Emily Reher's daughter)...












Daryn and Barb Buettner

Darwyn and Barbara Buettner of Grand Island will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on April 14 with a family gathering.

Their family includes three sons: Doug Buettner and his wife Kathy of Wasilla, Alaska; David Buettner of Aurora, Colo., and Darren Buettner and his wife, Saffron, of Grand Island. They have seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Darwyn and Barbara Buettner were married April 14, 1957, at Trinity United Methodist Church in Grand Island.

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The following article appeared April 30, 2007...

That is Sylvia (in the white pants in the photo) and her husband Ralph Peters... second from left.


Love, family bonds endure

Fifth sibling joins ranks of brothers, sisters celebrating 50th wedding anniversary


Photo by Lane Hickenbottom

When Billie Peters celebrated his anniversary Sunday with Anita--his wife of 50 years--he joined ranks of his four other siblings who had each celebrated their own respective golden anniversaries. Pictured are (from left) Marlene and Marvin Peters, Ralph and Sylvia Peters, Billie and Anita Peters, Bonnie and Donald James and Roy and Ruth Peters.

Article by Robert Pore
robert.pore@theindependent.com

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion."
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

WORMS -- About 300 family and friends gathered Sunday at the Worms School gym for an open house celebrating the 50th anniversary of Billie and Anita Peters of Worms.

What makes the Peters' anniversary stand out is the fact that Billie is the fifth of his brothers and sisters to celebrate a 50th anniversary.

And he and his brothers and sisters all give credit to the family values they were taught by their parents.

Gathered at the open house to celebrate their golden anniversary were the other siblings who are members of the 50-years-of-marriage-plus club: Ralph and Sylvia Peters of Henderson (52 years), Roy and Ruth Peters of Grand Island (52 years), Marvin and Marlene Peters of Grand Island (51 years), and Bonnie and Don James of Grand Island (50 years).

Hot on the heels of the 50-year club members is their youngest brother, Larry, who has been married to his wife, Donna, for 45 years.

This marital longevity runs in the family, as their parents, Willie and Elvera Peters, were married more than 60 years.

Along with his parents' strong family values, Roy Peters also credits his family's German ancestry.

"It was very strict and it was all Lutheran," Roy said. "But it was very family-oriented. It was the way we were raised."

Billie and Anita still operate the family's farm near Worms. The open house was at the school gym, which is next to Zion Lutheran Church, where Roy said his family attended every Sunday while growing up on the family farm.

Sunday's open house was a special occasion for the Peters clan because it was a celebration of family at a place where their roots are still firmly planted both physically and spiritually.

"This is really a big family affair," Roy said.

He said he and his brothers and sisters have kept close over the years. They all now live within 50 miles or less or each other.

"We all try to get together as often as we can," Roy said.

Brother Marvin said another secret of their family's commitment to marriage is "the person you pick and our church and religious background."

Brother Billie said he really doesn't have a specific reason for his family's marital perseverance.

"My mom and dad were married more than 60 years," Billie said. "I guess it's hereditary."

His wife, Anita, was a local girl and his high school sweetheart. They were married at Zion Lutheran Church, the same church they have attended all their lives.

Farming is something that Billie has had in his blood from the days being raised on the same family farm that he still works and where he raised his three children.

For Billie and Anita, raising a family and farming was a full-time occupation that required a lot of teamwork, he said.

"Farming is something I enjoy doing," Billie said. "We always listened to what each other had to say, we worked through it and neither one of us were more important than the other. She has been by my side, no matter what. She was there with me in the fields. And when there were things to get done, she would help me."

But, Billie said, the reason he and his brothers and sisters have stuck to their life commitment to their partners is a legacy of their upbringing by their life commitment to their partners is a legacy of their upbringing by their parents.

"We were taught what was right and what was wrong and we lived by those standards," he said.

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