It’s here!   The Schurch Family Association of North America Symposium Series!

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The first one was held on June 12, 2021. It was a success!

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The first SFANA Symposium session titled “Schürch Family Migration to California in the 19th to Early-20th Century” was given by Cary Adams. He had many facts, figures and graphics. It was very interesting.

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There is no date for the next symposium but keep watching here for the latest information

Remember this is free event at schurchsymposium@gmail.com.

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An Invitation from the President of the Association

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Please see the invitation to attend the 40th SGNS summer meeting in Switzerland. They have extended an invitation to us to attend this special anniversary of their association.

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Tom Shirk

President

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2 Riverhills Lane, Toledo, Ohio 43623

tomshirk@bex.net

419-346-1811

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An Invitation

This year the association is celebrating the 40tieth anniversary. On this summer gathering we will celebrate under the slogan “nid schüch aber Schürch (not shy but  Schürch). We hope that you can also be with us.

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The Program:
10:45  Where are we? Peter Moore, from Olten is introducing his birth city
11:30 Aperitif (a drink from the SGNS)
12:30 Lunch
13.30 approx. History of the SGNS. Rita reports about the 40 years of the SGNS
Followed by the dessert
 
Afterwards we have time to chat together and will receive the correct answers from the contest.
Schürch artists display their works and products. The day will be framed by some Swiss music.
We look forward to an interesting comfortable day with you and we hope for numerous registrations.
 
Kind regards,
 
Kurt Schürch and the members of the SGNS board

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Reunion 2021 POSTPONED

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NEW DATES:

August 4- 7, 2022

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Location: Clarion Hotel and Conference Centre

Fort Erie, Ontario

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Details of the next reunion will be posted here and on the Reunions pages in the menu as they become available. The newsletter and our Facebook page will also have details.

Pauline Emilia SHIRK
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Polly and her brother Pete attended their first Schürch Reunion in 2018 in Pennsylvania. Their recent connection with the Schürch family is very important to them.

Pauline “Polly” Emilia Monson (Shirk) passed away peacefully in her home in Pismo Beach, CA on April 9th, 2020 of Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma cancer. She was 83 years old.

Polly was born in Fresno, CA on January 6, 1937, the daughter of Daisy Shirk (Cerveny) and Paul Shirk.  She attended elementary school at the Fresno State Lab School where she gained life-long friends. She graduated from Fresno High School in 1954.  Two years later, she married David Sleeter. Together they had three children:  Don, Doug, and Diane.

In 1967, after divorcing, she attended Fresno State College as a single parent, graduating in 1969 with a B.A. in Education with a minor in Music. Upon earning her teaching credential, Polly became a kindergarten and first grade teacher in the Fresno School District, where she taught for 23 years. 

She was also an accomplished musician, playing the flute and piccolo in the Fresno Symphony Orchestra and Opera for many years. She also taught music to many flute and piccolo students, some of whom became life-long friends. 

In 1978, she married William N. Monson, a professor at CSU Fresno. They were active in the university, arts and music communities in Fresno until they retired and moved to Pismo Beach in 1997. Polly loved living in Pismo Beach, walking on the Pier and breathing the clear air. 

Music was always an important part of her life. She was happiest playing with chamber music groups locally and in Ischia, Italy. She formed a group called “Flute Fun” in Pismo Beach with friends who met regularly to play music together. She was an ardent supporter of Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo. She also played impresario for Robert Stallman, a world-renowned Flutist and arranger by planning, funding, and promoting Stallman’s public performances in San Luis Obispo in 2009, 2010, and 2013. She took on big projects like this every few years. Recently, she spent two years editing and posthumously publishing William Monson’s novel “Adoree Ames”.

Polly was preceded in death by her husband, William Monson, in 2005. She is survived by her three children and their spouses: Don and Kim Sleeter (Castro Valley, CA), Doug and Sherrill Sleeter (Pleasanton, CA), and Diane Sleeter (Capitola, CA); her brother and sister-in-law Peter and Susan Shirk (Millbrae, CA);  her three step-children Laura Monson Gross, David Monson, and James Monson; 14 grandchildren; a great grandchild; and niece Jenn Warner and nephew Paul Shirk.

New Brubacher House Video

This new video shows the history of the Brubacher House as it relates to the Brubaker Family but the House also has deep Sherk roots. The House was built by John and Magdalena Brubacher. John’s father was Deacon John E Brubacher, Code C346 who was the first male Brubacher immigrant to Waterloo County. John E was the grandson of Maria Sherk Erb, Code C3, and her husband, Christian Erb, immigrants to Waterloo County about 1806.

John Brubacher’s mother was Catherine Sherk, Code H464, daughter of Joseph Sherk, Code H46, who was the first immigrant to Waterloo County in 1800.

Thus John Brubacher, descendant of John E Brubacher and Catherine Sherk and builder of the Brubacher House can claim two Schurch codes, C3464 and H4644.

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At the Schürch Reunion in 2016 in Waterloo Region, this house was one of the stops on a bus tour.

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Enjoy the video!

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msVJar4UzeI&list=PLRVDwi_WScLnjyYTLm0njOMFG8Dg3AnKB&index=2&t=0s

How Many Ways can one Spell Schürch?

Who are the Schürchs?

Well, if your family name or that of any ancestor is Scherich, Scherch, Schirch, Schuerch, Sharick, Sherck, Sherick, Sherk, Sherrick, Shirck, Shirk or any of the more than 70 variants, you are a member of the Family. The Schürch Family originated in Switzerland and through emigration spread to North America in the late 1600s.

Our Swiss-German ancestors spelled their name Schürch and this is still the accepted spelling in Switzerland today. The Swiss also spell it ‘Schuerch’ exchanging the umlaut for the letter ‘e’. Our immigrant forefathers did not speak English and the clerks on the ships at the port of arrival did not usually speak German. Thus in Colonial America and later in the 1800s, various phonetic spellings were adopted. The name of the Family Association uses the Swiss spelling since it is the original surname and is representative of all the various branches of the family in North America today.

The Schürch Family Association of North America (SFANA) was created in 1982 by a group of individuals who were interested in preserving their family heritage. At that time, it was known that at least twenty-five individuals with likely ties to a Schürch family arrived in North America between the years 1727 and 1808. Many of those families (but not all) had ties to Sumiswald, Switzerland. Consequently, a sister organization, Schweizische Gesellschaft für Namenstrager Schürch (SGNS), developed around the same time, with similar goals. This sister organization has compiled extensive documentation on family branches in Switzerland.

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The Swiss Schürch Association meets regularly. To learn more of the Schürch Family Association of Switzerland, abbreviated SGNS, visit the Swiss Schürch Family.

SFANA has provided this site to disseminate information about our family and the activities of the Association. Check in on a regular basis to see the latest information on the biennial reunion, research and family happenings.

To learn more of the Schürchs who first landed on North American shores go to Schürch History.

How many? Sixty or more at last count.  Add family surnames with ties to the Schürch family like Bergey, Brubacher, Clemmer, Detweiler, Erb, Good, Hunsberger, Martin, Shantz, and many more and the number of Schürchs skyrockets. In the 37 years since our association was established, Schürch historians have discovered numerous ties connecting the descendants of the first Swiss arrivals in 1727. Come and explore and celebrate your ties to Schürchs in Switzerland and across North America.