Happy 79th Anniversary

Eleanor and Allen Searls, at their wedding in Minneapolis on this day in 1946.

Happy for my sister and me, who are both still alive and well. I’m also happy for the thirty-three years Eleanor and Allen made a life and a family together. They were great people, great parents, great teachers, great friends to many, and much more. Both are still missed. Some links:

Their weddingEleanor SearlsAllen Searls

Later… I also did some digging through 2011 correspondence with local realtor Tom Dunn, who said the wedding took place at the late Grace Methodist Church. This Facebook post says the church was at “2125 Thirty Third Avenue North,” but that does not appear to be a valid address. But the photo matches this one in the Hennepin County Library’s digital collection. It’s 2501 NE Taylor Street in Minneapolis. The closest match on Google StreetView is this one here. Tom sent literature on the property, which was then for sale. About the building, it says, “The Church community at the property began in the 1880s when the first sanctuary was built. Then, between 1915 and 1918, a new sanctuary was constructed alongside.” The church was being sold off because its congregation merged with a larger one in 2011.

Still, it could be that Mom and Pop got married at a different Methodist church in Minneapolis. Possibilities:

2125 Thirty Third Avenue North, Minneapolis. According to this 2017 piece in Medium, it is “a church building now housing the Spirit and Truth Worship Center. The original occupant was Grace Methodist Episcopal Church, subsequently Grace United Methodist Church. The original part of the building, on the left of this photo taken from Penn Avenue, dates from 1920.” Here are some historic photos, via the United Methodist Church.Grace United Methodist (often called “Grace–Lowry”) is the building at 2510 Cleveland St NE, on the corner of Cleveland & Lowry, one block west of Taylor St NE. The congregation still meets there today under the name Northeast United Methodist Church. Google’s latest StreetView, in 2023, shows building renovation going on.

I’m sure there is correspondence from that time in my sister’s archives or mine that will shed more light on the question. No rush, though. What matters is that the wedding happened, and so did the kids and the grandkids.