Celebrating Boller Wedding Anniversaries.

Our hope in putting together this Our Boller Story website is two-fold. First, we’ve wanted to celebrate our six generations of Bollers who have lived here in America since 1816. And secondly, we want to encourage future generations – the 7th, 8th, and beyond – to keep our rich family heritage alive – living, to the full, the lives God has given us.

As I’ve assembled our Boller family history (1794-present), I’ve noticed an interesting pattern of big family celebrations centered around wedding anniversaries. It’s obvious that our family has paid attention to such things in the past and made a concentrated effort to gather together to celebrate whenever a couple reaches a special number of years together.

Sadly, not all of our Boller family marriages have had the blessing of longevity. Yet, we’ve also been blessed by those who’ve made it to 40 – 50 – and yes, even 60+ years of marriage! Allow me here to review some of the history that we know about…

Sadly, George F. Boller lost his first wife (which records don’t indicate her name) within 3 years of their 1812 marriage in Germany. After arriving in America in 1816, George married a second time (1820) to a Pennsylvania-born Mennonite – Elizabeth Zook. Elizabeth died in Wayne County, Ohio, at the age of 49 in April of 1840, giving our first Boller generation in America only 20 years of married life together.

On November 18, 1899, the Boller family and friends gathered to celebrate 50 years of marriage between Jacob B. Boller and Catharine Smucker. Two Mennonite pastors were there to lead the singing and prayer service that followed the dinner party. All the children presented Uncle Jacob an “elegant gold watch” and Aunt Catharine received “a handsome pair of gold-rimmed spectacles” (glasses).

Jacob B. Boller and Catharine Smucker had nearly 53 years of married life together. Joined in wedlock on November 18, 1849 in Butler County, Ohio, the Bollers were the first of our family descendants to live in Iowa, arriving in Johnson County in 1852. In November 1899, an article in The Kalona News described the big family celebration of Jacob & Catharine’s 50th wedding anniversary held on Saturday, November 18, 1899. Jacob & Catharine Boller went on to live together in Kalona until July 3, 1902 when Catharine passed.

My great grandmother, Barbara Miller‘s parents – Jacob & Catherine Miller, were married on September 20, 1860 in the Deer Creek area of Johnson County. Like their counter-parts, Jacob & Catharine Boller, the Millers enjoyed 53 years of wedded bliss before Jacob died on December 4, 1913. Catherine lived on for another ten years, passing in 1923. Our family records indicate that in 1910, the extended Miller family had a huge celebration party on the Miller farm. The Bollers, who all lived in Wayland at that time, were there for the big day.

In **September 1910**, the Boller family joined the big 50th Wedding Anniversary party for Barbara’s parents, **Jacob & Catherine Miller**, on the Miller farm in Deer Creek. In the “grandchildren” picture above (back row), we find Waldo (#2 with glasses), and brother, Frank (#3) with wife Stella (#4).

Married on November 22, 1881, when D.J. Boller was 25 and Barbara Miller was 18, the Bollers enjoyed the longest marriage in Our Boller Story, stretching nearly 65 years. While we don’t know of a 50th anniversary party, the Mt. Pleasant News carried articles from 1935, 1935, and 1944 which indicate that small family celebrations were held in their home (see below) in Wayland.

H.H. Hulme (1863-1946) and Anna May Dill (1862-1936) were married on January 6, 1886 in Henry County, Iowa. They enjoyed 50 years of marriage, celebrating their golden anniversary, a few months before Anna died in March of 1936. Click here to read more about the Hulme family.

My Boller grandparents, Waldo & Olive Boller, were married in Wayland, Iowa on April 10, 1912, and were only able to celebrate 29 years of marriage before Waldo died at the young age of 57.

My Boyer grandparents, Hollie & Edie Boyer, were married in Trenton, Missouri on April 6, 1915. They enjoyed 42 years of marriage, and in the spring of 1954, our family gathered at a nice restaurant in Nauvoo, Illinois to celebrate their 39th wedding anniversary. The funny story behind all this is that, for years, everyone (including the obituaries) thought Hollie & Edie were married in 1914, thus the “40th” anniversary party in 1954. But, as I was putting together these pages in 2022, I found both their wedding license and certificate and both clearly state April 6, 1915.

(M-0131) In our family collection, we have three wonderful keepsakes from my grandparents. Above left is a locket belonging to Edith (Agee) Boyer. We believe the two men pictured inside are Edie’s two brothers: Millard Thomas “Red” and Francis Benjamin. In the middle, is William Hollis Boyer‘s Rock Island Railroad watch. Finally, we believe the beautiful pocket watch on the right belonged to my grandfather, Waldo Boller.

My mom and dad, George & Dixie Boller, were married on March 17, 1945 in Billings, Montana. They enjoyed 45 years of marriage before Dixie passed on December 31, 1990, one day before her 68th birthday.

In the summer of 1976, Dixie & George celebrated with Marty & Sandy (their 1st Anniversary) by going out to dinner in Amana. Since they celebrated their 31st Anniversary in March 1976, here (above left) they indicate that they are in their 32nd year of marriage. Above right: In 1985, George & Dixie had a 40th Anniversary celebration at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. Below: Some pics from that special day…

Sandy’s mom and dad, Jack & LaVonne Unrue, were married on June 6, 1948 in Warsaw, Indiana. They enjoyed 46 years of marriage before Jack passed on June 18, 1994.

Which now brings us to:

Yes, it’s your humble author and his beautiful bride. We were married on July 12, 1975 in Skokie, Illinois. You can read more about our lives here. Below, you can see that we’ve made a special effort over the years to celebrate our marriage. Over the first ten years, we tried using our fingers to designate our anniversary number, but, as you can imagine, after 10+ years, we simply ran out of fingers! Below: Here’s Anniversary #1 – July 12, 1986 – in Iowa City…

Below: Anniversary #2 – July 12, 1987 – as we vacationed in Escanaba, Michigan…

Below: Anniversary #3 – July 12, 1978 – from the Logos Bookstore meetings in Estes Park, Colorado (and with little David)…

Below: Anniversary #4 – July 12, 1979 – from the annual Logos Bookstore meetings in St. Louis…

Below: Anniversary #5 – July 12, 1980 – back home in Evanston, with little Debbie hiding away in Sandy’s tummy until her September arrival…

Below: Anniversary #7 – July 12, 1982 – still living on Madison Place in Evanston…

Now, let’s fast forward to Anniversary #50 – July 12, 2025…

On July 12, 2025, Marty & Sandy Boller celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary!
In celebration of these five decades of wedded bliss, we put together four web pages that bring together some facts, figures, and, of course, a few fun pictures from those days long ago when Marty & Sandy were first building their relationship. Fortunately, Sandy & Marty kept a pretty good chronological list of their “firsts”, beginning in March 1974 and continuing right through to their July 12, 1975 wedding, and their 10-day mid-July honeymoon.

Here’s a menu link to the four pages of 1975 – 2025 Celebrating 50 Years Of Marriage:
Vol. I – March 2, 1974 to February 22, 1975 – The First Dates.
Vol II – February 22, 1975 to July 11, 1975 – Planning A Wedding.
Vol III – July 12, 1975 – The Special Day.
Vol IV – July 13 – July 26 – The Honeymoon.

50 years later – in the summer of 2025 – we decided to by-pass the traditional exotic trip or big one-day party, and chose to celebrate our 50 years of marriage with a series of three smaller, family-oriented events we called our ‘Remember The 50!’ celebrations. Read more about these 50th Anniversary events here…