An expectant Josephine Thome spent countless hours crocheting the finest lace and sewing delicate tucks into the white cotton fabric used for the baptismal gown her daughter, born October 9, 1889, would one day wear.
That daughter, Rose Mary Thome Voss, was the first to wear the gown so lovingly stitched more than a century ago -- her great-granddaughter, Sydney Rose Shacklette, born January 31, is the latest.
At her baptism, performed April 13 at Immaculate Conception Church by family relative Rev. Edwin Thome of St. Joseph-Mapleton Church on Old Mission Peninsula, Sydney wore the heirloom gown her mother Kristine and great grandmother and namesake Rose wore for the same sacrament.
"It was pretty thrilling to think that the dress could be passed down and is intact and able to be worn," said Sydney's grandmother, Jeanne DeLaney who is unsure if she wore the gown herself.
"We don't have any pictures and there is no one left to ask if I wore it," said DeLaney of Traverse City.
Whether DeLaney and her six siblings wore the gown is not clear, but many of their children and grandchildren have.
"There have been far more than we have kept track of, it has been worn many, many times," DeLaney said.
The delicate gown has passed from family member to family member, staying with the last one who used it, until three years ago when the family donated the dress to the Alpine Township Museum near Grand Rapids. The museum, located just miles from the Thome family homestead, has agreed to display the dress making sure it is always available for family members to use.
DeLaney will be sending the gown onto the next in the line of Thome descendents for their upcoming ceremony before returning it to the museum.
Sydney's mom, Kristine, was delighted that her daughter was able to continue the family tradition.
"It was a perfect day with her and her sweet little dress," she said.
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