Quite a ring to it: Four Colfax siblings marry within a year

Your child's wedding is an emotional, joyous event, right?

Well, consider Tim and Mary Pull. They've had four such emotional, joyous events because all four of their children are married. And all four weddings took place within one year.

The Pulls live in Colfax, N.D. Tim teaches in the electrical technology department of North Dakota State College of Science, Wahpeton, and Mary is an English instructor and assistant director of the Center for Writers at North Dakota State University.

The children, in order of birth, are Joseph, Andrew, Bethany and Laura.

Their parents kind of figured Laura would be the first to marry, even though she was the youngest, and they were right. She married May 29, 2004.

Joseph was the next one to the altar; his wedding was Aug. 14, 2004. Next: Andrew, married Jan. 1, 2005. Then Bethany was married last May 28, just 365 days after the first of the four weddings.

It all began when two high school buddies of Joe and Andy were among the friends they invited home from time to time: Joshua Gonser, from Christine, N.D., and Ryan Hermunslie, Abercrombie.

One day, Mary heard laughter in the basement, learned it was coming from Josh and Beth, and commented they would make a nice couple. You called it, Mom. They began dating.

Meanwhile, Ryan developed a special interest in Laura and they too hit the dating trail, which led Joe to say that with both of his sisters dating his buddies, "It's a good thing I don't have more sisters because I'm running out of friends."

Beth and Laura went to NDSU, although Laura transferred to Sister Rosalind Gefre's Schools of Massage, Fargo.

Meanwhile, Joe and Andy enrolled at the University of Kansas, Lawrence. It was while Andy was working for a Christian campus ministry there that he met Trisha DeShon, Lincoln, Neb., and introduced her to Joe. Well, sure, she and Joe began dating.

Joe graduated from Kansas and went to Yale Law School, New Haven, Conn., while Trisha went to the Philippines to teach music. But they stayed in touch via phones and the Internet.

Andy, having done well in connecting his brother with a girlfriend, soon did well for himself. He joined the staff of the Cooperstown (N.D.) Bible Camp and met another staff member, Lisa Halland, Glyndon, Minn. Lisa later graduated from high school in Glyndon and enrolled in Kent State University in Ohio while Andy studied in Costa Rica. They, too, stayed in touch via cell phone.

All this led to four marriage proposals.

First, Ryan proposed to Laura. You know what she said.

"The whole family rejoiced for them," Mary says, "because everyone knew they were right for each other. Most importantly both had a strong faith in God, and they had dedicated themselves to Jesus Christ. (We) knew they had a strong foundation of faith that could stand the storms of life."

While the wedding plans for Laura and Ryan were being made, Trisha came home for Christmas. Joe took her for a romantic walk in the woods by his home one snowy day and proposed. Answer: Affirmative.

They, too, were "spiritually grounded in Jesus Christ," Mary says, so there were no family qualms about them.

In between wedding No. 1 and No. 2, Andy asked his mom if she could handle still another one before the end of the year. She laughed, but she knew he wasn't kidding.

He wasn't. He proposed to Lisa three days before his brother's wedding.

Again, Mary says, the family was thrilled, because "Lisa was a graceful Christian young lady who brought a gentle and quiet spirit to the family."

So now, with Andy's wedding rapidly coming up, Joshua asked Tim if, well, hey, could he add one more wedding to the family calendar? Well, sure; Beth and he too were spiritually linked and would be a fine couple. So Josh proposed last Christmas Eve, got the answer he wanted, and they set May 28 for the date, keeping it within a year of the first wedding.

So it was that Laura and Ryan were married at Salem Evangelical Free Church, Fargo; Joe and Trisha had an outdoor wedding; and Andy and Lisa and Beth and Josh were married at Bethel Evangelical Free Church, Fargo.

Here's the current status of the four couples:

Laura and Ryan live in Hopkins, Minn., where Ryan is a certified public accountant and Laura is a massage therapist.

Joe and Trisha are spending the summer in Washington, D.C., while Joe completes an internship with a law firm. They will return to New Haven in the fall so Joe can complete his work for his law degree at Yale; Trisha will seek an elementary music teaching position.

Andy and Lisa will live in Stow, Ohio, until Lisa finishes her degree in music at Kent State in 2006. Andy is working at Radio Shack and will attend seminary after Lisa graduates.

Beth and Josh will graduate from NDSU next spring with degrees in accounting and turf grass management respectively. Josh meanwhile is working at the Fargo Country Club and Beth is employed by the NDSU Research Foundation.

Back at the empty nest known as the Pull household in Colfax, Tim and Mary say they miss the "crazy days of teenage gatherings," but they plan to host many large family gatherings.

Tim, in fact, has thrown a little incentive out there. "Just to make sure the children remember that family and faith make life worth living," he says, he's promised a "reward" for the first grandchild.

The race, presumably, is on.

If you have an item of interest for this column, mail it to Neighbors, The Forum, Box 2020, Fargo, N.D. 58107; fax it to 241-5487; or e-mail blind@forumcomm.com