Phyllis Eleanor Phillips married her sweetheart, Lawrence Laverne Voorhies in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the mid-1920s. She was the beloved daughter of an immigrant English shoemaker and a second generation Irishwoman and was the youngest of five children, two of whom died in infancy. Lawrence was the son of an immigrant Belgian buggy maker-turned-farmer and his Flemish wife; he was the middle child of five. The beautiful bride looks demure in her wedding photo but was probably quite the feisty independent, as flappers had come to be in that era. She was also very fashionable in her tea-length gown of soft wavering fabric, distinctive headpiece with long veil, pointy low-heeled Mary Janes, and a huge round bouquet (all of which are similar to the vintage magazine cover below). The tall handsome groom leans close to his bride and gazes at her with adoration - he is dapper in his dark suit, bow tie, and polished shoes. However by the time a family portrait is organized outside in the sunshine, Lawrence's smile has faded into a grimace. Was he anxious for the festivities to be over? Or was he just tired of posing?
The marriage lasted less than a decade and produced one child, my mother, Leah Joan. Lawrence, a baker by profession, suffered from alcoholism and died alone in Chicago in1942 - a sad ending for a story that had such a lovely beginning...
Left to right: Juliana & Peter Voorhies (groom's parents), Jane Stoffer (bride's niece), Lawrence, Phyllis, unknown woman, Wendell David Phillips (bride's brother), Nellie and Alfred Phillips (bride's parents), Florence (bride's sister) and Fred Stoffer, Marie Stoffer (Fred's sister), Fred and Florence's sons - Robert and Alfred Stoffer
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