My Berry Family

With the marriage of Benjamin and Ellen this year, the Summerlin-Minor extended family now includes 20 recent Berry alumni, plus even more names that harken back to the days when Martha Berry taught the children of Trapp Holler.

Ellen's parents Keith (89C, 02G) and Amy Brock (92C, 97G) Summerlin went to Berry, as did her brothers Jake Summerlin (16C) and Matthew Summerlin (12C), plus Matthew's wife Elise Maciantonio (13C, 17G). On Benjamin's side, Berry grads include his sister Kathleen Minor (19C), plus his maternal grandparents Don (58C) and Typhnes "Feenie" Fish (58C) Midkiff, his great uncles/aunts Ronald (57C) and Nancy Garner (57C) Midkiff; Ellender "Ellen" Fish (53C) Lee and her husband Donald E Lee; and Sandy Midkiff (60C) Cooper and John (62C) Cooper. Benjamin's first cousin Maggie Midkiff (17C) Maddrey and her husband Russell Maddrey (17C) also went to Berry; and second cousins Brenda Fish Hunter (69C) and Anelia Williams Campbell (64C) are also part of this special club.

The plethora of shared Berry connections with all these family members yielded many positive benefits for this pair - both alums felt they were able to quickly fit in during their time at Berry as students. Ellen had some of the same professors as her parents, and she even lived in the same residence halls. Her campus job at Oak Hill was where her older brother previously worked. And Benjamin was able to attend school at the same time as his sister, while the two siblings recognized important spots on campus about which their grandparents had described special memories.

In bringing their families together, the couple says they "weren't nervous at all about everyone getting along," realizing the many things their extended family of alumni has in common.