The 128th annual Whiteleather Reunion, for descendants of Andrew and Mary Zentz Whiteleather, was held Sunday, Aug. 10, at the West Community Center in East Rochester, Ohio. Sixty-one attendees were registered by Russ Fox.
Shirley Whiteleather Fox welcomed the group and gave the invocation before the carry-in luncheon. A group photo was taken and made available for purchase through Dunlap Photography of Minerva, Ohio.
The photo included: Leeling Ho, front left, Emily Fox Johnson, Andy Broadbent, Kaye Momosor Broadbent, Larry Orrell, Avah Gram, Ruth Whiteleather Orrell, Jonathan Gram, Hannah Gram, Rebekah Gram, Lisa McCauley Gram, Liyah Gram; Shirley Whiteleather Fox, second row left, Bill Spier, Linda Diana Spier, Paul Smith, Debbie Nelson Smith, Nancy Willis Stephen (oldest, 93 years), Barbara Willis Nelson, Friendly Jones, Sara Givens Jones; Gratton David Hamilton, third row left, Linda Whiteleather Hamilton, Ashlyn Hamilton, Jacob Hamilton, David Hamilton, Jen Bailey Hamilton, Andy Polovischak, Beth Zieger Polovischak, Cathy Nelson Givens, Glen Givens; Esther Whiteleather, fourth row left, Gretchen Ruester Brown, Ray Brown, Bob Greenisen, Russ Fox, Betty Whiteleather, Margie Whiteleather Wilson; Kathleen Whiteleather Johnson, fifth row left, Wesley Johnson, Summer Johnson, Scarlet Johnson, Savanna Johnson, Larry Skvir, Connie Whiteleather Skvir, Marji Schramm McManus, Denny McManus; Rita Cameron Nutter, sixth row left, Shawn Nutter, Philip Crist, Kevin Crist, Beau Crist, Megan Conrad Crist, Waylon Crist (youngest present), Steven Crist, Debbie Collen. Attending but not pictured were Glenn Whiteleather, David and Kris Geisberger, Jon and Shaoita Tomlinson.
Out-of-state attendees included Larry and Connie Skvir of Delran, New Jersey; Larry and Marji McManus of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Leeling Ho of New Hyde Park, New York. The oldest member present was Nancy Willis Stephen, 93, of Canton, Ohio. The youngest was Waylon Crist, 2, son of Kevin and Megan Crist of North Georgetown, Ohio. The theme was "Kind words are never wasted." Note pads, note cards, pens and pencils served as centerpieces and were given away.
Following lunch, Shirley Whiteleather Fox of Moultrie, Ohio, conducted the meeting. She shared an 1886 autograph booklet belonging to Anna DeHoff, a great-granddaughter of Andrew and Mary Whiteleather who was born in North Georgetown. The booklet contained penned messages of kindness from classmates and friends, along with floral paste-in stickers and rhyming verses. Several names in the booklet were familiar family names from the area.
Correspondence was read from family members unable to attend, including David Moeller and Gary Momosor of Anchorage, Alaska; Kathy Liskoff of Manasquan, New Jersey; Atlee and Barbara Whiteleather of Pasadena, Maryland; Mandy Whiteleather of Providence, Rhode Island; Sharon Moore Duff of Austell, Georgia; and Paul and Marie Selig of North Canton, Ohio. Seven of the nine family branches were represented, with each member noting which of Andrew and Mary’s children they descended from.
Next year marks 250 years since Andrew came to the colonies as a 19-year-old from Stiege, Germany, fighting with the British, and 200 years since he and Mary settled in nearby North Georgetown, Ohio, with eight of their nine children.
Fox shared details of a presentation on Andrew given in September 2024 at the Boston Public Library by Dirk Weissleder of Hanover, Germany. His work was accepted by the 36th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences, sponsored by the New England Historical Genealogical Society. Fox, along with Jason and Gretl Whiteleather, attended. Dirk later presented the same program in Moultrie, Ohio, in October.
Next year, the Weissleder meeting will be held June 26–28, 2026, in Meiningen, in the province of Thuringia, Germany, with tours of towns in Henneberg land and Hildburghausen, where Weissleder families still reside. American Whiteleathers have been invited to attend.
Fox noted the Whiteleather family has spread widely across the United States, though many still live in Ohio. Because Andrew immigrated from a remote area of Germany in 1776, few others with the Weissleder name came to America for many years, making Andrew and Mary the root ancestors for the American family line.
The reunion tradition began when Andrew’s grandchildren gathered in August 1846 to honor his passing. Genealogical records were compiled by Martha Whiteleather Monnette of Alliance, Ohio, and Alice Montgomery of Seattle, Washington, beginning in the 1960s, and earlier by Rena Whiteleather of North Georgetown in the early 1900s.
Esther Whiteleather shared her visit with cousin Gary Momosor in Anchorage in May, and Emily Fox Johnson and her family also visited him in June. After discussion, members agreed to move the annual reunion to the third Sunday in August to accommodate schedules.
Family data reported:
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Deaths: Carol Edgar Flint, Jose, California, 2022; Stetson Pennell Momosor, Anchorage, Alaska, Feb. 28, 2025 (David branch); Carl Nelson, Clinton, Ohio, July 26, 2025 (John branch); Norman Summer, Minerva, Ohio, Nov. 7, 2024 (Catherine branch); Larry Wilson, Minerva, Ohio, Jan. 20, 2025; Neal Harvey Wray, Imperial Valley, California, March 5, 2022 (Christian branch).
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Marriages: Yale Whiteleather Robb to Candice Kilbarger, Cancun, Mexico, Dec. 5, 2023; Jason Gratton Liskoff to Susanna Nicol Maugere, Dover, Florida, Oct. 12, 2024 (Christian branch).
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Births: Zeppelin Ty DeFrank, son of Halie and Ashton DeFrank, Canal Fulton, Ohio, April 25, 2025; Mira Jean Menegay, daughter of Tylor and Lauren Menegay, Clinton, Pennsylvania, June 20, 2025 (John branch); Georgia Grace Biery, daughter of Grant and Kara Biery, Dec. 12, 2024; Colton James Bevan, son of Zach and Samatha Bevan, June 30, 2025; Vann Lawrence Wackerly and Vivi Rue Wackerly, twins born to Lauren Whiteleather Wackerly and Matthew Wackerly, Carrollton, Ohio, Aug. 7, 2025 (Christian branch).
Fox thanked the group for attending. She said the 2026 newsletter will be sent out in early spring and encouraged families to send updates for the archives.
The 129th Whiteleather Reunion will be held Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, at the same location, the old West School in East Rochester, West Township, Columbiana County, Ohio.
