THE HECTOR AND MINA WITTWER BUNKER FAMILY HERITAGE for the Bunker Reunion August 20, 1963
Time must never erase those previous lines of history that gives us a Knowledge of our ancestors. We are blessed to be the posterity of Hector and Mina Bunker. They struggled with nature as only those who farmed for a living along the Virgin River in the hot southern Nevada desert can appreciate. Their time for earning their living was not an easy time. It was the time of the horse and buggy. They knew what it was to sweat and strain to seek out a living and they worked hard farming and ranching to provide what was needed to raise eight children and provide them with opportunities of growth and development. They knew what it was to live through a depression and manage with only bare necessities. They had few of the comforts of electricity, water piped into the house, refregerators, etc., until their family were mostly raised. Theirs was a happy family. Many lessons were taught which have endured until this day when our number exceeds 160 family members. We rejoice in our heritage for not only did Hector and Mina teach the importance of industry to sustain life, they taught and practiced the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Their faith and testimony as to the truth and divinity of the gospel made their lives vital to us. Our legacy is founded in their faith, testimonies, and teachings. They want every member of their family to look back another generation and see how important the gospel was to their parents.
Samuel Wittwer came with his parents from Switzerland because they wanted to be with the Saints. It meant forsaking home, farm, and family for the blessings of the gospel. He was the husband of two wonderful women, Mary Ann and Bertha, who also came as a result of the Lord’s gathering. Samuel made four trips by team and wagon to Missouri to help the emigrating Saints to Utah. He accepted a call for a mission leaving his wife, Mary Ann, and seven children and Bertha with two children in Santa Clara, Utah, while he labored in Michigan and Minnesota for two years. Both Samuel and his devoted wives knew what it was to sacrifice to help others enjoy the blessings found by living the gospel and following the counsel of their living prophet. They answered many calls of service in the Church and gave their latter years to serve in the temple.
Edward Bunker said he was led away from his home and family in Maine, in a spirit of unrest that took him to Ohio where he gained a testimony of the truth of the gospel and became a member of the Church. He said he then knew why he was led away from his father’s house. Because it was a law of the Lord, he took three wives. It was soon after he married Emily Abbott that he answered the call of the prophet, Brigham Young and made that long and arduous journey as a member of the Mormon Battalion. It was after he had taken as his second wife the widow of William Lang that he left his two wives and children to answer the call to serve as a missionary in England for three years. It was a challenge and a struggle for Edward, Emily and Sarah Ann and their children but they were devoted to each other and the Lord’s work and were willing to make the sacrifice. When Edward was returning from his mission, he was given the responsibility of bringing 320 Saints in what became known as the Welsh handcart company, across the plains into the Salt Lake valley. They made the trip in six months. Can you imagine the rejoicing when he was reunited with his family. It was soon after his return that: married Mary McQuarrie, our grandmother. She was a girl from Scotland who had come with her parents from their native land to be with her parents and the Saints to help build up Zion. She was only 10 years old when they crossed the plains and she walked most of the way. It was soon after her marriage to our grandfather, Edward, that he was called to take his family and help in the settlement of southern Utah. They later went to southern Nevada to conquer those desert lands. They answered the call to live the United Order and gave their all to make it work. It was a struggle to have ten children as grandmother Mary did and provide for their needs as she served the community as a mid-wife and nurse of sick people and animals. Edward was bishop in Ogden, Santa Clara and Bunkerville.
Our Wittwer and Bunker family heritage which includes our Tobler and McQuarrie ancestry, leaves us without excuse. They were unŽdaunted in making the gospel of Jesus Christ and their membership in the Church their most important consideration. They were willing, as they often did, to sacrifice all for the sake of the gospel. They reflected in their lives the words of our hymn, “I’ll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, over mountain, or plain or sea; I’ll say what you want me to say, dear Lord; I’ll be what you want me to be.”
They gave us a treasure which exceeds the value of all worldly wealth. They gave us a heritage founded in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They gave us their good name, their traditions, their love, their testimonies, and every good thing with which they were blessed. They want us to build our lives to reflect the gift of their sacrifices and devotions which is our heritage. They want us to be a family of faithful Latter Day Saints.
Ferren W. Bunker, President
Source:Brent Bunker