Keepsakes of love stories are enthralling, and not only to romantics. Stories of several weddings are included in Eastcliff: History of a Home. Below are a few remembrances of those Eastcliff love affairs.
1920: Edward and Markell
Edward Brooks and Markell Conley married on April 5, 1920, in Chicago.
Left: Announcement in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, January 27, 1920
Right: Markell and Edward’s marriage certificate, April 5, 1920, Photographed from Markell’s archive in the Minnesota Historical Society
1944: Conley and Marney
Conley Brooks and Marney Brown married on March 18, 1944, with a dinner the night before at Eastcliff. Future mother-in-law Markell wrote to her cousin Quail Hawken regarding her eldest son’s engagement:
“If he had searched the world over he couldn’t have found a more exquisite person nor one who will fit into our family better.”
Left: Markell’s letter to Quail Hawken, photographed from Markell’s archive in the Minnesota Historical Society
Spoiler alert: While it is unlikely that Marney called her family from the Eastcliff phone room to announce her engagement (read the full story in Eastcliff: History of a Home), another couple, inspired by the story, did use the room in 2016 to call family, albeit using a cellphone.
Photos courtesy of the Brooks family
1954: Binky and John
Binky Brooks and John Krafchuk married on April 18, 1954, at Unity church followed by a reception at Eastcliff. Marney Brooks was the matron of honor, and Marney and Conley’s daughter, Marlow, was a flower girl, along with the groom’s niece.
Dwight Brooks had married Carol Summerfelt in Nagoya, Japan, in 1953.
Newspaper clipping from the Minneapolis Tribune April 25, 1954
1957: Ted and Ginny
Ted Brooks and Virginia (Ginny) Dahleen married on March 23, 1957, at House of Hope Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, followed by a small reception at St. Paul College Club.
Newspaper clipping from the Minneapolis Tribune,
March 24, 1957
1965: Connie and David
Connie Wilson married David Bennion married on December 27, 1965, in the Eastcliff living room, followed by a reception at the Campus Club.
Newspaper clipping from the Minneapolis Tribune, December 28, 1965
1967: Mary Ann and John
Mary Ann Wilson and John Hansen married on June 24, 1967, at Nokomis Heights Lutheran Church, followed by a wedding reception at Eastcliff.
1978: Peter and Diane
University of Minnesota President Peter Magrath and Diane Skomars married on March 25, 1978, in the Eastcliff living room, followed by a reception at the house.
Left: Minneapolis Star, March 27, 1978
Middle: University of Minnesota Alumni News, November, 1978
Right: A piece of Diane Magrath’s wedding wreath, preserved in the Eastcliff secret cupboard
1996: Anna and Jim
Anna Hasselmo and Jim Williams married on April 20, 1996, at Calvary Lutheran Church in Golden Valley, followed by a reception at Eastcliff.
2) the tag attached to the bouquet, and 3) the corsage Pat Hasselmo wore at her daughter’s wedding.
2017: Sam and Lizzy
Sam Kaler and Lizzy Shay met on September 22, 2011, minutes after Eric Kaler’s inauguration as the sixteenth president of the University of Minnesota. They were photographed together that day (photo courtesy of the University of Minnesota; second row: Sam Kaler, Lizzy Shay, Charlie Kaler, Lisa Smith). A similar photograph taken by another photographer appeared on the front page of the newspaper the following day.
How rare is it for a photographer to capture a moment of chance meeting that later becomes significant? How about for the first minutes of a future relationship to be in photo on the front page of the newspaper?
Sam Kaler and Lizzy Shay married on July 22, 2017, at the Minikahda Club in Minneapolis, with a dinner and party the night before at Eastcliff.
Please note: The above text was edited from Eastcliff: History of a Home due to lack of space. It is intended as a supplement to the book.
