Dad put together a family reunion for my 2nd great grandfather - William Henry Harrison Shuck in Phoenix. I was able to meet other Shuck relatives there for the first time. The story of why we spell our last names differently is interesting. My gg-grandfather always seemed to spell his name without the c - SHUCK. However he died at a rather young age, and when his spouse filled out the records for his civil war pension - she spelled it the German way SCHUCK. During World War I some of my relatives temporarily changed the spelling back to SHUCK so as to avoid any confusion of their Americanism (our original American ancestory Johannes Martin SHUCK/SCHUCK/SCHOCK fought in the revolutionary war - so we're pretty American). Some of the family still keeps that spelling. Going back through the history of the line - the SHUCK spelling is used by almost everybody - except my immediate family.
It was great to spend a few hours in the park with 2nd and 3rd cousins. They were all great people. I wish we had more time together.
My father's 2nd cousin Susie Shuck holding my niece Susannah Schuck.
A picture with Tom Shuck and his daughter Peggy. Tom at 87 is the oldest living Shuck. He is very outgoing and it is largely through his friendliness and reaching out that the various sides of the family have kept contact with eachother. One of the reasons I flew all the way to Phoenix for a few hours of reunion was so that I could thank Tom for giving me a wedding present. I'm not sure I'd even heard of him when he sent a present 16.5 yrs ago. I'm not sure how he even found out I was getting married. Thanks Tom!!
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