The Hofstetter family celebrated its 73rd annual family reunion Sunday at the Huntsburg Community Center, drawing four generations together to honor a family legacy rooted in immigration, community leadership and dedication to history and its preservation.
The Hofstetter family celebrated its 73rd annual family reunion Sunday at the Huntsburg Community Center, drawing four generations together to honor a family legacy rooted in immigration, community leadership and dedication to history and its preservation.
About 30 descendants of Kaspar and Augusta Hofstetter, who settled in Huntsburg around 1915, attended the reunion.
Kaspar and Augusta immigrated from Switzerland and Germany, respectively, and raised 11 children on a farm along Huntley Road, said Philip Earl Halstead, the oldest living first cousin.
“When they came to the United States, they didn’t speak any English,” said Debbie Hofstetter, the wife of one of Kaspar’s grandchildren, at the reunion. “Even though he was just a farmer, Kaspar wound up (becoming) a Huntsburg Township trustee.”
Kaspar and Augusta raised Lena Hofstetter Harrington, Kasper Hofstetter, Bertha Hofstetter Halstead, Frieda Shute Visser Barnes, Emma Hofstetter Carmany, Augusta Hofstetter Daly, Carl Hofstetter, Henry Hofstetter, Judge Edwin Hofstetter, Edna Hofstetter Savoy and Edith Hofstetter Rhodes Conway.
Their 11 children went on to become educators, healthcare professionals, merchants and public officials in Geauga County and beyond, said Debbie.
Family member Beth Crew displayed photos on a large posterboard celebrating the Hofstetter legacy.
Beth said one of Kaspar and Augusta’s sons, Carl, served as a judge and Middlefield mayor. Their son Henry became dean of Optometry at Indiana University and wrote lyrics to the Huntsburg High School alma mater. Their son Edwin spent his career as an attorney and court of appeals judge. Two of their daughters, Augusta and Emma, became registered nurses, Beth said.
“There were quite a few Ohio State graduates in the family, as well,” Philip said, noting that while the Hofstetters pursued a wide range of careers, shared paths and traditions still emerged across generations.
“The eleven children, who are no longer with us, were educated and extremely impressive in their community,” Debbie said. “They all did a lot of great things.”
“We are very proud,” added her husband, Bill Hofstetter.
The Hofstetters were especially active in the communities of Huntsburg, Middlefield and Chardon, Philip noted.
Three of the Hofstetter daughters married Middlefield merchants, extending the family’s influence throughout the area.
Although the family is largely in Geauga County, they have relatives all over the world — with one branch of the family extending all the way to Australia — Philip and family historian Mona Geer said.
Geer has documented much of the family’s past, including original belongings now housed in the Huntsburg Historical Society Museum.
“We do a family Zoom every Sunday night from 7 to 8 p.m.,” Mona said. “I host it and everyone can show up if they are available. We send out the invitation to everybody and whoever wants to show up, can show up.”
A highlight of the family’s shared history came in the year 2000, when a busload of Hofstetters traveled together to Switzerland to visit Kaspar’s hometown, Debbie said.
The reunions, once attended by nearly a hundred people, have diminished in size since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Still, this year’s gathering was larger than in recent years, the family said.
“Prior to COVID, this reunion usually went from eighty to a hundred people. We sometimes have had to wear nametags,” Mona said. “The only time we didn’t have a reunion was during COVID, but we did a Zoom.”
Sunday’s event featured a potluck meal — a long-standing tradition for the family — with each attendee bringing a dish to share.
“Aunt Helen used to bring her famous lasagna,” Mona recalled. “It took two days to make.”
Today, Kaspar and Augusta are buried together in the Lower East section of Huntsburg Cemetery.
“It’s quite a good story of immigrants coming here and achieving a lot based on hard work,” Debbie added. “This is a great group of people.”
“We have been doing these reunions for a very long time,” added Susan Mohme, who traveled from Arizona to attend. “Some of us, like me, come a fairly good distance for this. I hope we all keep making this reunion bigger next year and the year after that.”
