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I have been reflecting on this past year and on the people in our lives that have made Randy’s and my success possible. Because truthfully, our success is owed not only to our teamwork and loyal clients, but also to our deep, rich, connected history to Sonoma County. We take great pride in our commitment to this incredible area, and to the family generations before us who made Sonoma County home.
My ancestors have worked the land and businesses here in Sonoma County for many generations. I am proud to be a part of the Beedle family that has been such a huge part of our community’s history. We join together to celebrate each other and our community every season by breaking bread at the annual Union Hotel Christmas celebration in Occidental. This tradition has been going on for 15 years, and is an opportunity for each of us to reflect on years passed and set goals for the future.
This season, I would like to share my family’s story and a little tidbit of some of Sonoma County’s oldest settlers:
George Lewis Beedle, my great-great grandfather, was a gold miner in Almanor, CA. He later moved to the newly founded (1876) town of Occidental, settled down and raised six children.
My great grandfather Louie Sonoma Beedle, George Lewis Beedle’s youngest son, married Jenny Stevenson (originally from Missouri) and had eight children. Louie and his wife Jenny purchased a ranch a few miles west of Occidental on Coleman Valley Road.
My great-great-great grandparents Giovanni and Giovana Gobetti opened the Union Hotel in the late 1800s to house and feed all the loggers and their families that were immigrating to the West County. My great uncle Carl Beedle was a logger and helped make the roads throughout Occidental.
Giovanni and Giovana’s two children, Minnie Theresa Gobetti (my great grandmother) and Kate Gobetti both settled in Occidental with their children. Minnie married Enrico Brambani, they had Theresa & John (Jingo) Brambani (my grandmother and great uncle), while Mary Theresa married Charles Beedle (son of Louie S. Beedle). Charles and Mary had two sons, William H & Robert C Beedle, both born in Occidental.
My family lived and literally died in the hotel until its sale in 1924. My great-great grandmother great grandfather both died on the same night upstairs in the Union Hotel.
Robert C. Beedle (son of Charles and Mary) married Edna Goddard, my mother, and they had two children (Me and my brother Brad, as well as a foster child Patrick).
William (Bill) Beedle married Marion Stratton, and they had four children: Cindy, Marcy, Jody and Bill Jr. He later married Patricia O’Callahan Braham and adopted Pat’s children Eileen, Bobby, Cathy, Christy and Chucky.
Our family traditions and personal history runs deep in Occidental, the Union Hotel, and Sonoma County as a whole. We enjoy coming together as a family to celebrate each other, the generations who came before us and the historical Union Hotel, not only because of the wonderful celebration of Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus coming to visit, singing holiday carols and the incredible variety of Christmas cookies, but because we are still an integral part of the hotel and community that sustains the rich texture of our town.
Remembering those who came before us and honoring their contributions to our lives, our towns and our community is an important part of making our mark and measuring our success in the current day and age.
Thank you for allowing me to take this trip down memory lane, and share this piece of my family tree.
Cheers to you and your family traditions this holiday season and may 2015 bring you much deserved happiness!
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