June 30, 1999
Loomis reunion a family affair
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Continuity, roots and tradition. Food, fun and games.
This is just a snapshot of what goes on at Loomis family reunions, not just this year but for the past 60 years. As 83 members of the Loomis clan gathered Sunday in Lake Ann at the home of Jim Loomis, they renewed acquaintances, swapped stories and continued a tradition stretching back for generations.
Unlike many families today who see each other only at weddings and funerals, the Loomises keep in touch.
"We've always been a close knit group," said Maxine Loomis Courtad of Lake Ann, who has attended every reunion since the beginning. "If something happens to someone in the family we all get together and of course we come to the reunions."
Courtad's father, Marion, hosted the first family reunion in 1939 less than a mile from the gathering this year. Seventeen family members and one guest attended that reunion and three other original members plus Courtad were on hand to celebrate the 60th one.
Back in 1939, dues of twenty-five cents were assessed to offset costs of putting on the reunion. A high priority of the family gatherings from the beginning was ensuring that everyone had enough ice cream. Even this year, the requisite ice cream was brought out as the festivities wound down and everyone had their share before leaving.
"Every year in the minutes there is a note: 'More ice cream next year," said Rosalie VanMeter of Independence, Missouri, one of three family members active in genealogy research. "I attended all reunions as a kid and I just feel really blessed to have a place to come together once a year and see each other."
A tradition of record keeping was also born at that first reunion. Minutes, a group picture and a list of attendees from that first meeting are the showpiece of a book that the family has compiled documenting the happenings each year. Songs, games and a highlight of events from each year are listed, and the group picture always has each person's name carefully listed.
Genealogy is a passion for some family members, who refer to the book 'Descendants of the Joseph Loomis Family in America.' This book was originally published in 1875 and helped trace the family back to England. Joseph Loomis settled in Windsor, Conn., in 1639 and some family members have visited the original homestead, which is still standing.
This branch of the Loomis family traces its common ancestor to Joel Woolsey Loomis and Eunice Morsman, who married and settled in 1870 in Tustin, near Cadillac. Most of the attendees at these reunions are descendants of their six children, though a few from more distant relatives come every year. Members of the family have created their own book of all the descendants of Joel and Eunice, listing hundreds of descendants.
The family's Traverse City area branch started in the early 1902 when grandson Marion Loomis came to Northport to be the depot agent for the Manistee and Northeastern railroad. He met and married Sadie Crane, the postmaster for the now defunct town of Cedar Run, and they settled along property on Cedar Run Road. Two of their children, Jim Loomis and Maxine Courtad, still live within a stone's throw of their parents' homestead.
There is no doubt that the deep roots and connection of the Loomis family, now spread among five states and ranging in age from five months to 101 years old, are nurtured by these ongoing annual gatherings each summer. It is a tradition they could easily stretch into another 60 years.
"You see so many other families who don't get along," said Jim Loomis, whose parents ran a general store in Cedar Run while he was growing up. "Having everybody together kind of makes you feel like you still got somebody around who cares."