A Pilgramage to Meet Family

During our home's renovation I came across the name of Betty Oft and remembered Mom mentioning we had relation in Oregon.  The fact was never told but my great grandparents had a falling out with their only son; Hans.  I Googled "Ofts" and luckily the name is not common and I found two "Betty Ofts" in Oregon.  I called one several times, no answer.  I tried the other and a gentleman answered.  I told him that Eggert and Rosa Oft were my Great Grandparents and that I thought we were related.  He replied, "We're third cousins".  It was Terry Oft, Betty's son.  

Betty Oft and a picture of her father-in-law, Hans Oft

I sent Betty some pictures and a letter I found that Hans had written to his mother after the brake up.  I discovered that Hans had married a non-German girl and the couple had two sons; Homer and Eggert.  The family left Bennington, loading up all their worldly positions and took the train to Oregon.  They bought a farm next to the Snake River.  They worked hard and prospered.  

We kept in touch and Betty invited us to meet her family in Oregon.  That trip occurred in April, 2011.  We loaded up the Prius and started peddling northwest.  We got a chance to visit our boys in Colorado, experienced a late snow storm in Wyoming, and beautiful snow covered mountains in Utah.  We stopped and saw Shashoni Falls in Idaho.  Spring runoff had already started and the river was running historically high; the falls were simply beautiful.   The fall is called the "Niagara of the West".  

Hans and Frankie Ofts home, Ontario, Oregon (1914)

Betty called and told us she was planning to visit Nebraska and wondered if she could stop by to see the house.  We invited her to say and she did.  We had a wonderful 3 days looking at photographs and rediscovering the 'family' and trying to understand what caused the family discourse.  Anyway, we learned Betty lived in the house that Hans and this wife Frankie built in 1914.  Her son Terry and his wife live a short distance away.  The couple raise register Angus cattle and crops.  Terry has a partnership with two other ranches and hold a spring auction, selling nearly 300 register bulls.  Betty says they serve lunch to nearly 500 potential buyers.  It's quite an operation.    

Betty's other son Michael is a music instructor who family had homes in both Portland and the Boston area.  They were trying to sell their Portland home.   Michael drove over and became our 'tour guide' showing us the sites.  We visited the auction house where the bull sale occurs, visited the ranch were cows were being artificially inseminated, and visited a portion of the Oregon Trail where the wagon ruts were still visible in the prairie.   It was fun trip.  



Terry Oft, Betty Oft, Gordon Mueller, Michael Oft.

 Michael and his wife have a grown daughter and son, Toby.  We discovered Toby is married and has twins; both a boy and girl.  The Oft family name is still alive!!  We also learned that Toby Oft is the lead trombonist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. 

I've cursed a computer more than once.  However, the Internet provided me linkage with a part of my family I didn't know existed.  I find that amazing.  Our trip to Oregon was wonderful; it was a trip of beautiful mountains, snow capped peaks, roaring rivers, and spectacular waterfalls.  It was a trip of family discovery; of "new" members,  it helped fill in those missing pieces of family history; the stories that were left untold, the who's and whys.   It has caused me to reflect on my own immediate family and those of my friends.  Petty arguments, indifference's and our inability to forget and forgive destroy family relationships everyday. This has caused me to reflect and thank God for my blessings.   Gordon