52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2020) – Week 23: Wedding—The Wedding of Bill Hork & Lela Johnston

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

In documenting the wedding of one’s parents, when one couldn’t have been present because it occurred before their birth, it is wonderful that newspapers documented them. One must remember that the article was written or at least dictated by someone in the family. There seems to be a format for the woman’s page in the newspaper, as most of the articles are similar in style and content. Even so, I have an idea of how the wedding of my parents occurred from the newspaper article. I also have a few photos of pre- and post-wedding activities at the home of my mother.

William Joseph Hork, son of William Cyril Hork and Anna Marie Sullivan, married Lela Nell Johnston, daughter of Tom J. Johnston, Jr. and Pansy Louise Lancaster, on 19 April 1953 at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church in Concord, California.[1]

The festivities started at the home of Lela, located at 307 Nancy Lane in Pleasant Hill. Her friend, Barbara Boyenger, who was her maid of honor, helped Lela prepare for the day. From photos taken during this preparation, Barbara probably spent the night.[2]

Lela wore “a street-length dress of antique taffeta with unpressed pleats fashioned in the full skirt. The bodice was designed with three-quarter-length dolman sleeves, Peter Pan collar and self-covered buttons.”  Her hat was an “ice-blue lace picture hat with open crown.” She wore “matching silk gloves and her white shantung slippers were adorned with tiny flower sprays on the toes.” She also borrowed pearl earrings from her aunt, Mrs. Hal (Kay) Johnston, who lived in Walnut Creek. “She carried a white prayer book topped with roses and stephanotis.”[3]

You can see her dress, hat, gloves, and prayer book here with her father, Tom J. Johnston. He wore a double-breasted suit common on the style then. He certainly looked sharp.

Her mother wore “a navy blue faille suit dress with red accessories” and a corsage of red carnations. Bill’s mother wore “a printed silk dress with matching stole and pink accessories. Her corsage of pink carnations completed her costume.”[4]

Barbara Boyenger was her maid of honor and wore a “dusty pink silk shantung dress and white linen slippers” and her corsage was white carnations. Bill’s best man was his brother-in-law, Eugene Soares of Palo Alto.[5]

Queen of All Saints is a Catholic church located in downtown Concord, most likely where Bill and his mother attended. Father Adrian McKenna performed the ritual. Here is Bill and Lela at the altar, and then the wedding party at the altar.

The reception was held at the home of Tom & Pansy Johnston, where a tiered cake and punch were served.[6] The photos Ken took show some of the scenes from the reception.

Only close family and friends attended the Sunday afternoon affair. Out of town guests were Lela’s paternal aunt, Beryl Russell of Sacramento, Bill’s sister and brother-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Eugene (June) Soares of Palo Alto, Bill’s aunt, Mrs. J.T. (Loretto) Patterson of Pomona, and his sister and brother-in-law, John & Virginia Gertridge of Menlo Park.[7] Here is a shot of the guests on the steps of the church, and newspaper left out only the children: Melanie Soares, and Terry, Dennis, and Karen Johnston.

They left in Bill’s car for a honeymoon at the Mark Hopkins hotel in San Francisco. They lived with his mother until their new home in Shore Acres was completed.[8] 

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[1] “Lela Johnston, William Hork Exchange Wedding Vows at Afternoon Ceremony,” Contra Costa Times, 23 April 1953, p. 5.

[2] Photos were taken by Ken Harvey, who Barbara Boyenger married. I found the envelope with photos and negatives in my father’s collection.

[3] “Lela Johnston, William Hork Exchange Wedding Vows at Afternoon Ceremony.”

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] “Newlywedded Horks at Home in Concord After Sunday Rites,” Walnut Creek Sun, 24 April 1953.

[7] “Lela Johnston, William Hork Exchange Wedding Vows at Afternoon Ceremony.”

[8] Personal memories told to me by my parents.

Copyright © 2020 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.