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I thought I knew all of dad’s Swedish uncles and aunts, those who had immigrated to the US in 1872. But a discovery while rummaging around the attic of the family farmhouse told a different story. I ultimately learned of an additional Swedish aunt, the oldest and one I had never heard of. That attic discovery began a hunt for details to explain who this aunt was and how she and her family had slipped into oblivion, becoming the “family I never knew!” This is her story.

Jim Smith grew up 165 miles north of here on a small farm in western Michigan. After college, marriage to Sherry, helping to construct Central Manor, graduate school and three years with the US Air Force, Jim and family returned to this area to a position with the Ames Division of Miles Laboratories. Ten years later, he accepted a position with Zimmer, Inc. in Warsaw, retiring from Zimmer in 2004.

In his retirement, Jim served on the board of the Friends of the Pumpkinvine Nature Trail, the Goshen City Plan Commission and the steering committee of New Perspectives on Faith, a ministry of College Mennonite Church. He has also presented at earlier seasons of the Midwinter Lecture Series.

Jim remains an avid reader and enjoys researching and writing family history. After residing in Goshen for 25 years, Jim and Sherry moved to Fort Wayne in 2021 where they recently celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. They have two daughters and five grandchildren.