Wedding Wednesday: Rose Edith STROESSER and Francis Albert “Jack” HOYT, Jr.

Mr. and Mrs. Harry Stroesser

request the honour of your presence

at the marriage of their daughter

Rose

to

Mr. Francis Albert Hoyt, Jr.

Saturday morning, the twenty-fifth of June

Nineteen hundred and forty-nine

at nine o’clock

Saint Cecilia’s Cathedral

Omaha, Nebraska

Rose Edith STROESSER and Francis Albert “Jack” HOYT, Jr. were my grandparents. I have already recorded the story of how they met one another here. The announcement of their engagement went out on page 70 of the 8 May 1949 edition of Omaha’s Sunday World Herald:

Stroesser-Hoyt Wedding June 15
   Mr. and Mrs. Harry Stroesser have announced the engagement of their daughter, Miss Rose Stroesser, to Francis A. Hoyt, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Francis A. Hoyt, Sr., of Council Bluffs.
   Miss Stroesser and Mr. Hoyt will be married June 25 at 9 a. m., in the St. Cecilia’s Cathedral.

Rose was the fourth STROESSER girl to marry in St. Cecilia’s Cathedral. A couple weeks before the wedding, her sister Clare (who had been married nine years before), threw her a bridal shower.

Page 18 of the 2 June 1949 issue of the Evening World-Herald:

Shower to Honor June Bride-Elect
   A bridal shower will be given this evening by Mrs. Robert Hill for Miss Rose Stroesser, who will be married in St. Cecilia’s Cathedral June 25 to Francis A. Hoyt, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Francis A. Hoyt, Sr., of Council Bluffs. Miss Stroesser is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Stroesser.

An unidentified newpaper clipping found in Grandma’s family album announced the upcoming wedding.

Cathedral Rites For Miss Stroesser

In a ceremony Saturday morning at St. Cecilia’s cathedral, Miss Rose Stroesser, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Stroesser, will become the bride of Francis Albert Hoyt, Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Francis A. Hoyt, Sr., of Council Bluffs.

Matron of honor will be Mrs. Robert Hill, sister of the bride, and two other sisters, the Misses Therese and Joan Stroesser, will be bridesmaids. A brother, Edward Stroesser, will be best man and Dan and Joe Stroesser will usher. Rita Johnson, niece of the bride, will be ring bearer.

A wedding breakfast will be held in the Commanders’ Room of the Legion Club and in the evening a recetpion [sic] is planned at the Stroesser home.

The wedding took place on 25 June 1949. Two newspaper clippings, one which I have been able to identify and one I still have not found in any archives, described the wedding.

Page 56 of the 26 June 1949 issue of the Sunday World-Herald:

St. Cecilia’s Scene of Rite

Rose Stroesser Wed to Francis Hoyt

    St. Cecilia’s Cathedral was the scene of the wedding Saturday of Miss Rose E. Stroesser and Francis A. Hoyt, Jr., of Council Bluffs. Mrgr. Ernest Graham performed the 9 a.m. ceremony. Mrs. Winifred Traynor Flanagan was organist.

    The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Stroesser. Mr. Hoyt is the son of Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Hoyt of Council Bluffs.

    The bride’s gown of white satin had a marquisette yoke outlined with seed pearl embroidery. The full skirt had a three-yard train. A tiara of sequins held her fingertip illusion veil. She carried white roses with streamers of stephanotis.

    Mrs. Robert Hill, matron of honor for her sister, wore a gown of pink satin brocade and carried green carnations. She had a matching floral tiara.

    Miss Therese and Miss Joan Stroesser, bridesmaids for their sister, wore similar gowns of taffeta and net in orchid and yellow. They carried contrasting bouquets of carnations, and wore similar flowers in their hair.

    The bride’s brother, Daniel Stroesser, was best man. Michael Ferryman and Richard Rosso ushered.

    An evening reception was given at the home of the bride, and a wedding breakfast at the Legion Club. After a trip to Denver, Colo., the couple will live in Omaha.

Hoyt-Stroesser

   In St. Cecilia’s cathedral in Omaha, Miss Rose E. Stroesser, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Stroesser of Omaha, became the bride of Francis A. Hoyt, jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Francis A. Hoyt, sr., of this city, Saturday morning.

   Msgr. Ernest A. Graham celebrated the nuptial mass, at which time a double ring ceremony was used.

    Mrs. Winifred Traynor Flanagan was the organist.

   The bride wore a gown of white satin with a marquisette yoke outlined with seed pearls. The skirt swept into a three-yard train and her finger tip veil fell from a tiara of sequins. She carried a bouquet of white roses with a shower of ribbon streamers.

   Mrs. Robert Hill, sister of the bride, was matron of honor and wore a gown of rose brocaded satin with a bolero jacket. She carried a bouquet of green carnations and a tiara of matching carnations was in her hair.

   Misses Joan and Therese Stroesser, sisters of the bride, were the bridesmaids. They wore matching gowns of taffeta and net in shades of orchid and yellow respectively. They carried carnations which were in contrast with their gowns and wore matching carnation tiaras in their hair.

   Rita Johnson, daughter of Sgt. and Mrs.K. L. Johnson, niece of the bride, was the ring bearer.

   Daniel Stroesser, brother of the bride, was the best man and ushers were Richard Rosso and Michael Ferryman.

   A reception followed the ceremony at the home of the bride’s parents, 417 North Fortieth street, in Omaha.

  Out-of-town guests at the wedding were Mrs. John J. Korman and family of Philadelphia, Pa. Warrant Officer and Mrs. George Ehmen, jr., and family of Denver, Col.

   The couple left on a wedding trip to Denver, Col., and on their return will reside in Council Bluffs.

The last newspaper clipping related to my grandparents’ wedding appears to contain text, but upon closer examination the text has nothing to do with their wedding. The picture is the star of this clipping. I remember Grandma being still very proud of this picture in the newspaper, more than fifty years later. The original is a beautiful, hand-tinted photograph too large to fit on my scanner.

You can easily see where I stitched the two halves of the photo together. A note inserted into the envelope with this picture identifies it as the original of the one in the paper, however close inspection (the sweep of the fabric, position of the veil, etc.) disproves that. It is, however, extraordinarily similar and clearly taken during the same session.