Nancy Ogden Westerdahl

Married Three Times in Same Church

Nancy Jane Ogden was married three times, and on all three occasions the ceremony was performed in the same church, the Trinity Evangelical Reformed Church in Gettysburg, PA now known as the United Church of Christ.

The first wedding was on Tuesday, May 21, 1936 and at that time, Nancy used an alias. Her name was Jennie June and the groom was Tom Thumb, and according to the newspaper account of the service, it was the first Tom Thumb Wedding in Gettysburg in many years.

The bride was attired in a white satin bridal gown with a crown of orange blossoms. She carried a bridal bouquet of yellow roses, white sweet peas and yellow daises. The groom, Bobby Wolf, and the best man, Jack Ogden were in full dress with white vests  and ties.

The church was attractively decorated with spring flowers and more than four dozen children who participated were appropriately dressed in gowns and tuxes. 

The performance which was repeated on Thursday, May 23, because of the overflow crowd that showed up on Tuesday.

Seventeen years later, on May 30, 1953, Nancy Ogden was married again and in the same church. This time, she married Bruce Westerdahl, and in 2013, they celebrated their 60th anniversary.

Bruce