THAYER FAMILY REUNION 2026
THAYER FAMILY REUNION 2026
WHERE THE PRAIRIE MEETS OUR HERITAGE
Omaha Nebraska 24 -26 September 2026
Family,
What an incredible first two days we have had here in Nebraska.
Before I tell you about where we have been and what we have seen, I want to begin with something much more important: thank you.
To every member of the Thayer family who got on an airplane, climbed into a car, packed a suitcase, rearranged schedules, took time away from work and home, and traveled across the country to spend these days together, Virginia and I are truly grateful.
Some of you, who could do so, traveled a few hours. Some traveled much farther. But every mile represented a choice: you chose family. And that matters.
Family reunions are funny things. We spend months planning them, make schedules, reserve rooms, organize tours, prepare presentations, and figure out who is going where and when. Then suddenly everyone arrives and you realize that none of those things are really the reunion.
The reunion is the laughter at the table.
It is hearing a story you have never heard before.
It is discovering that someone you just met carries the same family name, the same mannerism, the same sense of humor, or maybe even the same stubborn streak.
We won't name names on that last one. 
It is looking around a room and realizing that generations of people had to live, struggle, marry, raise children, survive wars, cross states and territories, build homes, endure hardships and keep going in order for all of us to be standing together in Nebraska in 2026.
That is what makes these days special.
And for those members of our family who could not be here with us, I especially wanted to write this.
We have reminisced of times past and talked about you. We have thought about you wishing you were here.
Although Facebook cannot quite duplicate standing here with us, hopefully the pictures, stories and updates allow you to experience a little bit of the journey.
Because the first two days have been something special.
WELCOME TO NEBRASKA
Part of the reason I wanted our family to experience Nebraska was because our history is intertwined with the history of this state.
Nebraska became the 37th state in 1867. Lincoln itself had originally been the tiny settlement of Lancaster. When Nebraska achieved statehood, Lancaster was selected as the new capital and renamed Lincoln. At the time, it was still a very small frontier community. From those beginnings grew the capital city we walked through this week.
And woven deeply into those early Nebraska years is a name we all know:
John Milton Thayer.
For us, he isn't simply a name in a history book.
He is part of the Thayer story.
JOHN MILTON THAYER — SOLDIER, STATESMAN AND NEBRASKA PIONEER
John Milton Thayer was born in Massachusetts in 1820 and came west to the Nebraska Territory during the 1850s. He was educated at Brown University, practiced law, and arrived in Nebraska when this was still very much the American frontier.
Then came the Civil War.
When President Abraham Lincoln called for volunteers in 1861, Thayer helped organize approximately 1,000 men into the First Nebraska Infantry Regiment and became its colonel. Think about that for a moment: Nebraska wasn't even a state yet.
These men went east from a frontier territory to fight for the Union.
The First Nebraska fought at places including Fort Donelson and Shiloh, and Thayer later served under Ulysses S. Grant during the Vicksburg campaign. His military service eventually brought him promotion to brigadier general, and his career is remembered as one of the significant military stories of early Nebraska.
But his service did not end when the war ended.
Thayer became deeply involved in Nebraska's transition from territory to state. When Nebraska entered the Union in 1867, he became one of the state's first two United States senators. He later served as governor of Wyoming Territory before returning to Nebraska and being elected governor of Nebraska in 1886 and again in 1888.
Think about the span of that life.
Frontier settler.
Military leader.
Civil War general.
United States senator.
Territorial governor.
Governor of Nebraska.
And today, more than a century after his death, members of the Thayer family stood together at the place where he rests.
WYUKA CEMETERY
Of all our stops, this may have been one of the most meaningful.
It is not simply another cemetery. It was established by an act of the Nebraska Legislature in 1869, only two years after Nebraska became a state, specifically to provide the young capital city with a state cemetery. Its original 80 acres were designed in the beautiful "rural cemetery" tradition, creating a park-like landscape where people could walk, reflect and remember. Today the grounds encompass more than 140 acres.
Even the name is meaningful. Wyuka comes from a Lakota word meaning "to rest."
Walking through Wyuka feels almost like walking through an outdoor Nebraska history museum.
Governors, soldiers, pioneers and generations of Nebraska families are remembered there.
And then we reached John Milton Thayer.
His monument is impressive, large granite and bronze, positioned near the Grand Army of the Republic section. On it are words that say something extraordinary about how Nebraska remembered him:
"ERECTED BY A GRATEFUL STATE."
Those words hit differently when you are standing there.
This wasn't simply a family placing a marker over the grave of someone they loved. Nebraska itself chose to memorialize a man it believed had helped build, defend and lead the state. The official Wyuka historical tour still identifies his monument as one of the cemetery's significant historical stops.
And there we were... "Thayers!" generations later.
You can read about history.
You can see pictures of history.
But there is something completely different about standing on the ground where history actually happened and realizing:
Our family has a connection to this place.
THE HAYMARKET WHERE OLD NEBRASKA MEETS NEW NEBRASKA
We visited, Then there is Lincoln's historic Haymarket.
If you have never been there, imagine historic brick buildings, old warehouses and railroad history mixed with restaurants, shops, entertainment and people walking the streets.
But what makes the Haymarket fascinating is what it used to be.
Lincoln's original city plan included a Market Square where settlers bought and sold produce and livestock and where immigrants and travelers camped. In 1874 those activities moved several blocks and became known as Haymarket Square. Farmers brought hay, cattle and produce into town to be weighed and sold.
Then the railroad changed everything.
Warehouses rose. Wholesale businesses arrived. Trains moved goods throughout the region. Lincoln exploded in population, growing from a frontier capital into an important commercial center.
Many of those old warehouse buildings survived.
Instead of bulldozing that history, Lincoln eventually preserved and revitalized it. The district became a local landmark in 1982, underwent major redevelopment, and in 2014 the Lincoln Haymarket Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
That is part of what makes walking through the Haymarket so enjoyable.
You can grab dinner in a modern restaurant, hear music, shop, laugh with family and look around at buildings that once stood beside horse-drawn wagons and railroad cars.
Old Nebraska and modern Nebraska occupy the same few blocks.
And then, of course, there is another Nebraska landmark that requires almost no introduction.
MEMORIAL STADIUM.
GO BIG RED!
For people outside Nebraska, this is where the Cornhuskers play football.
For Nebraskans, that explanation is nowhere near sufficient.
Husker football is woven into Nebraska culture.
Memorial Stadium opened in 1923. Its first game was played October 13 of that year, when Nebraska defeated Oklahoma 24–0. The stadium was officially dedicated one week later, on October 20, 1923.
But something people sometimes miss is the meaning behind its name.
It is MEMORIAL Stadium.
It was created as a memorial honoring Nebraskans who served in America's wars, with the dedication later expanded to recognize those who died in World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
So even this enormous cathedral of Nebraska football is ultimately connected to remembrance, service and sacrifice.
And then there are the fans.
Nebraska's famous home sellout streak began in 1962 and has continued for decades, becoming one of the defining traditions in college football.
There is a reason the words at the stadium say:
"THROUGH THESE GATES PASS THE GREATEST FANS IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL."
You don't really understand Nebraska until you understand what happens when this entire state turns red.
Farmers, business owners, veterans, teachers, doctors, mechanics, grandparents, college students and little kids wearing Husker red all suddenly become one family for a few hours.
Sound familiar?
Maybe that's why it fits so well into a Thayer reunion.
TWO DAYS AND ALREADY SO MANY MEMORIES
What I have enjoyed most isn't simply showing everyone Nebraska.
It has been watching our family experience it together.
We've laughed.
We've learned.
We've told stories.
We've walked where Nebraska history happened.
We've stood together at the resting place of John Milton Thayer.
We've seen a frontier settlement that became a capital city.
We've walked through a district where horses, wagons and railroad commerce once helped build Lincoln.
We've stood beside one of the most recognizable stadiums in college football.
But more importantly, we've spent time together.
Someday nobody will remember whether every event started exactly on time.
They probably won't remember every historical date I threw at them, although I'm certainly going to keep trying.
What we WILL remember are the people standing beside us.
That is why reunions matter.
History isn't only something behind us.
Every generation adds another chapter.
John Milton Thayer had no idea that in September 2026, generations of Thayers would gather here in Nebraska, say his name, stand at his memorial, tell his story and then sit together laughing, eating, talking and creating new stories of our own.
But here we are. Tomorrow we keep writing the story.
To those who traveled here: thank you.
To those who offered help to organize and plan. To those who coordinate, photograph, tell stories, laugh at my jokes, including the bad ones, and simply showed up ready to enjoy family: thank you.
And to those who could not be with us this year:
You are still part of this reunion.
You are part of this family.
We wish you were standing here with us, but we hope these pictures and stories allow you to travel with us in some small way.
Because wherever the Thayer family gathers, every generation that came before us is represented and every generation that follows us is watching what we do with the name they will inherit.
That makes this more than a reunion.
It makes it a continuation of a story.
From the Nebraska prairie...
From Lincoln...
From the Haymarket...
From Memorial Stadium...
And from the resting place of one of Nebraska's early leaders, John Milton Thayer...
We send our love to the entire Thayer family.
The 2026 Thayer Family Reunion is officially underway.
And we're just getting started! More to follow stay tuned.
WHERE THE PRAIRIE MEETS OUR HERITAGE.
Bob & Virginia Sons Children of Lola Thayer
Thayer Family Reunion 2026
Nebraska
WHERE THE PRAIRIE MEETS OUR HERITAGE
THE FINAL CHAPTER — OMAHA, BELLEVUE & HOME
Family,
And just like that, the 2026 Thayer Family Reunion in Nebraska has come to an end.
I knew this moment would arrive. We planned for it, scheduled around it, talked about it for months and watched the days on the calendar get closer.
But I don't think you can really prepare yourself for how quickly a reunion becomes a memory.
For the past several days, Virginia and I have had the privilege of sharing our Nebraska home with family who traveled from near and far to be here. We have laughed together, eaten together, learned together, probably gotten in and out of vehicles more times than anyone cares to count, told old stories, created new ones and discovered that family history becomes much more interesting when you actually stand where some of it happened.
Our final day may have captured the entire reunion better than anything else could.
It was a day of PAST AND PRESENT.
And what a day it was.
OMAHA — A CITY BUILT IN LAYERS
Our journey through Omaha wasn't simply sightseeing.
I wanted our family to see that Nebraska history didn't happen in one moment. It happened layer upon layer, generation upon generation.
Everywhere we went, yesterday was standing right beside today.
We began experiencing the Omaha built by pioneers, soldiers, entrepreneurs, immigrants, educators and families who looked at a place along the Missouri River and imagined what it could become.
One of the most beautiful examples was JOSLYN CASTLE.
Built in 1903 as the home of George and Sarah Joslyn, the magnificent 34-room Scottish Baronial mansion reminds us of an era when Omaha was becoming an economic force in the American West. George Joslyn built his fortune through the Western Newspaper Union, which at its height supplied printed material to thousands of newspapers across the country.
But what makes the Joslyn story memorable isn't simply wealth.
It is legacy.
George and Sarah became important Omaha philanthropists, and Sarah's later gift of the Joslyn Art Museum in George's memory helped ensure their influence would extend far beyond their own lifetimes.
Standing beside that remarkable home was another reminder of something we talked about throughout this reunion:
What we possess eventually belongs to history.
What we give can belong to generations.
REMEMBERING THOSE WHO SERVED
From there, our journey also brought us face-to-face with Nebraska's military heritage.
At Omaha's World War II memorial and places dedicated to remembrance, we were reminded that the history we enjoy was purchased at an enormous price.
Names carved into stone aren't simply names.
They were sons.
Brothers.
Husbands.
Fathers.
Friends.
They left communities just like ours and went places many had never heard of before the war.
Some returned.
Some did not.
For a family with generations of military service represented within it, those places deserve more than a passing glance.
They deserve a pause.
FORT OMAHA AND THE GENERAL CROOK HOUSE
Then came Fort Omaha.
There is something extraordinary about standing among buildings where soldiers once walked more than a century ago while modern Omaha moves around them.
Fort Omaha became headquarters for the Army's Department of the Platte in the 1870s, and one of its great surviving treasures is the General George Crook House.
Completed in 1879, the Crook House was the residence of Major General George Crook, one of the most consequential Army officers of the western frontier.
And those walls saw history.
General and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant stayed there in 1879.
Think about that.
Not a movie set.
Not a reproduction.
The actual place.
Once again, the past was not something in a book.
We were standing in it.
THE POPPLETON BUILDING AND THE OMAHA THAT KEPT GROWING
We also visited the Poppleton Building, another reminder of the commercial and architectural history that shaped Omaha as the city pushed outward from the Missouri River.
Throughout our tour, buildings like Poppleton helped tell a larger story.
Cities don't simply appear.
People build them.
Someone surveys the land, lays the brick, opens the business.
Someone teaches the children, protects the streets, raises a family.
And eventually one generation hands everything it built to the next.
FREEDOM PARK
At Freedom Park, military history took on an entirely different scale.
Ships, aircraft and military artifacts brought us into the story of the men and women who served America on the water and in the air.
Standing among those reminders of American service reinforced something that has appeared again and again during this reunion:
History becomes personal when you can touch it, walk beside it and imagine the people who actually lived it.
OMAHA CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL — STANDING WHERE NEBRASKA GOVERNMENT ONCE STOOD
Then we arrived at one of my favorite historical connections of the entire tour.
Omaha Central High School.
Today it is one of Omaha's great historic schools.
But the hill on which Central stands carries a much older story.
This was the SITE of Nebraska's first Territorial Capitol.
The original capitol building itself is engulfed. After Nebraska became a state and the capital moved to Lincoln, the Legislature donated the old capitol property to Omaha for educational purposes. The old structure had parts that was eventually declared unsafe and removed, and education took its place on Capitol Hill.
There is something almost poetic about that.
A place once occupied by lawmakers became occupied by students.
Government gave way to education.
And generations kept building.
It also connected beautifully with our earlier journey through the life of John Milton Thayer.
Thayer came to Nebraska Territory in the 1850s.
He knew the Nebraska of territorial government.
He helped raise troops when the Civil War came.
He became a general.
When Nebraska achieved statehood in 1867, he became one of its first United States senators.
He later served as governor of Wyoming Territory and eventually as governor of Nebraska.
So as we stood on Capitol Hill in Omaha, we weren't just looking at a school.
We were looking at ground belonging to the Nebraska, Thayer knew as this state was being born.
OLD DUNDEE — WHEN OMAHA BEGAN MOVING WEST
Our drive through Old Dundee told another part of the story.
There was a time when Dundee wasn't simply another Omaha neighborhood.
It was its own community.
As Omaha expanded westward, communities such as Dundee represented a changing idea of American city life, people could live away from the crowded urban center while remaining connected to the city.
Beautiful homes, tree-lined streets and distinctive architecture still tell that story today.
Eventually Omaha grew around it, and Dundee was annexed into Omaha in 1915.
Today we drive through it without thinking twice about crossing from one community into another.
But underneath modern Omaha are all these former boundaries, old neighborhoods and stories.
Again: Past and present.
THE OLD MARKET
And then there is the Old Market.
Brick streets, Historic buildings, Restaurants, Shops, and Art.
People everywhere.
Laughter coming from patios.
Modern Omaha living inside historic Omaha.
The Old Market is one of those places where you don't have to work very hard to imagine horses, wagons, warehouses, merchants and railroad commerce.
The buildings remain.
The purpose has changed.
The city adapted.
History survived.
And our family got to walk through it together.
BELLEVUE — WHERE NEBRASKA'S STORY GETS EVEN OLDER
Then we headed south into Bellevue.
For those visiting Nebraska for the first time, Bellevue sometimes surprises people because Omaha and Lincoln receive so much attention.
But Bellevue's history reaches deep into Nebraska's beginnings.
The community traces its development to the Missouri River fur-trading era of the early 1800s, long before Nebraska became a state.
Olde Towne Bellevue still gives glimpses of that earlier community, a place tied to traders, missionaries, Native peoples, military movement, river commerce and the gradual westward development of the United States.
When you walk or drive through those historic blocks, you are seeing a community whose story began before Nebraska had a state capitol, before Memorial Stadium, before modern Omaha and before most of the landmarks we visited this week existed.
And then, almost perfectly, our journey through Nebraska's past brought us directly into America's modern defense story.
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE
Few places better represent our theme of past and present than Offutt.
Its history reaches back to Fort Crook, authorized in the late 1880s and constructed during the 1890s.
Then aviation arrived.
The flying field at Fort Crook eventually became Offutt Field, named in honor of First Lieutenant Jarvis Offutt, an Omaha native and World War I aviator who lost his life while serving overseas.
Then came World War II.
The Glenn L. Martin bomber plant at the site produced more than 1,500 B-26 bombers and hundreds of B-29 Superfortresses.
And among those B-29s were two names that would become known throughout the world:
Enola Gay.
Bockscar.
Both aircraft used in the atomic missions against Japan came from the Martin plant here in Nebraska.
After the war, the installation became Offutt Air Force Base.
In 1948, Strategic Air Command established its headquarters here.
For decades, during some of the most dangerous years of the Cold War, decisions affecting America's strategic nuclear forces were connected to this Nebraska installation. THE MOLE HOLE.
Today Offutt remains a vital part of America's national defense.
So think about the timeline our family traveled in a single day.
Early Nebraska.
The territorial era.
John Milton Thayer's Nebraska.
The frontier Army.
Omaha's first capitol grounds.
Historic neighborhoods.
Industrial growth.
World War I.
World War II.
The Cold War.
Modern national defense.
And finally, us.
THE THAYER FAMILY — 2026
That may be what I will remember most about this reunion.
We weren't simply looking backward.
We were discovering where WE fit in the story.
History has a way of making people look at dates, but history isn't really made of dates.
It is made of people.
People who loved.
People who struggled.
People who served.
People who failed and tried again.
People who built something they hoped would outlive them.
People who raised children who raised children who raised children.
People who carried a family name forward without knowing who might carry it a hundred years later.
And that brings me back to all of you.
To every member of the Thayer family who traveled to Nebraska for this reunion.
Virginia and I hope you understand how much your presence meant to us.
You didn't simply attend an event.
You gave us something that cannot be purchased, replaced or recovered once it is gone.
You gave us your TIME.
You traveled hundreds and, in some cases, thousands of miles.
You rearranged schedules.
You packed bags.
You climbed into cars and airplanes.
You walked cemeteries, castles, historic neighborhoods, military installations and old streets with us.
You listened to history.
You shared stories.
You laughed with us.
You ate with us.
You made memories with us.
And somewhere along the way, this stopped being an itinerary.
It became family.
For those who could not join us in Nebraska, I hope these posts and photographs helped bring you along.
We missed you.
Your absence did not make you any less a part of the Thayer story.
And hopefully another reunion will give us the opportunity to sit together again.
As for those who were here...
When you leave Nebraska, I hope you take more home than photographs.
I hope when you hear the word Nebraska, you remember standing at John Milton Thayer's monument at Wyuka.
I hope you remember Lincoln and the Haymarket.
I hope you remember Memorial Stadium and GO BIG RED.
I hope you remember Omaha's old brick streets.
Joslyn Castle.
Fort Omaha.
The Crook House.
Freedom Park.
Central High and Capitol Hill.
Dundee.
The Old Market.
Bellevue.
Offutt.
But more than any building, monument or historical marker...
I hope you remember the person standing beside you.
Because buildings eventually change.
Cities change.
Governments change.
Generations change.
But there is something incredibly powerful about knowing where you came from and knowing that, for a few days in September 2026, people carrying the same family history deliberately stopped their busy lives and came together in Nebraska.
We remembered those who came before us.
We celebrated those who are here now.
And whether we realized it or not, we left something for those who will come after us.
Someday, another generation of Thayers may look at these photographs.
They won't know every joke we told.
They won't know every conversation.
They won't know who was late getting to the bus.
They may not even recognize every face.
But I hope someone tells them:
"That was the 2026 reunion in Nebraska."
And I hope they understand that the people in those pictures understood something important:
Family history isn't only something you inherit.
It is something you continue.
So, from Virginia and me, it has been an absolute joy to welcome you to Nebraska.
It has been our privilege to share our home, our state, our history and this time with you.
Travel safely.
Hold your families a little tighter.
Tell the stories.
Keep the photographs.
Write the names on the backs to teach the children who these people were.
And don't wait until the next reunion to tell someone in this family that they matter to you.
The van may be parked.
The tours may be finished.
The rooms will empty.
The suitcases will be packed.
And everyone will begin heading home.
But what happened here doesn't end when we leave.
We came to Nebraska to remember our history.
We leave having added another chapter to it.
The Thayer Family Reunion
Nebraska 2026.
WHERE THE PRAIRIE MEETS OUR HERITAGE.
Past remembered.
Present celebrated.
Future entrusted to the generations still to come.
Until we gather again...
God bless you.
God bless our family.
And from our Nebraska home to yours.
We love you all.
Bob & Virginia Nebraska 2026
P.S. Share the story of the blue dot. Lol