Aunt Onie Lived to Be 104 (#3 of 52)

This post is based on Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” challenge. This week’s theme is: LONGEVITY.

Leona (Coppenbarger) Hutchins, who I knew as “Aunt Onie,” was my great grandmother’s baby sister. Born in Sumner County, Kansas in 1889, she died just across the county border in Cowley County, Kansas. She was 104 years old.

Family photo shows “Onie” as a baby sitting on her mother’s lap. Her big sister/my great grandmother, Myrtle Mae, is the girl standing – second from the left – with short hair and large collar.

In 1905, at the age of 16, Onie married Frank Hutchins (1883-1975). The childless couple had been married for 69 years at the time of Frank’s death.

Wedding Photo of Frank & Leona’s 1905 Wedding

In 1989 we had a family reunion during which we celebrated Aunt Onie’s 100th birthday. (Although this photo might be from 1991.) Aunt Onie is pictured in the center in a wheelchair. Behind her and to the left, the lady in a blue and white striped shirt is my Aunt Beulah who got me started in genealogy almost 10 years after this reunion. I am directly to the left of Beulah with my light blue shirt and “big” ’80s bangs!

Family Reunion and Celebration of Aunt Onie’s 100th Birthday