The Matz and Latta Families
Children in the
front row: Philip Jr. and Molly, children of Mary Gale (Latta)
Becker
Back row: Chris Matz; John
David “Jack” Latta; Lake
Matz's wife Eva Louise (Davis); Mary Gale (Latta) Becker; John Tilden Latta
and Mary Elizabeth (Udell) Latta;
Lou Ellen (Latta) Matz
[wife of Chris Matz and sister of John Tilden Latta]; Miriam “Lois” Latta.
John David “Jack” Latta,
Mary Gale (Latta) Becker, and Miriam “Lois” Latta were the children of John Tilden Latta
and Mary Elizabeth (Udell) Latta.
Taken at Home of
John Tilden Latta and Mary Elizabeth (Udell) Latta
Granville, Licking
Co., Ohio
Sugar Loaf
1941
NOTES:
From Emma Merrill (Latta)
Webber in her book How Was I to Know, p.
7: “Granville was the headquarters of the Northern Baptist Convention. The
Fanny Doane Home for missionary children, where we*
had all spent some time was there, actually across the street from our house,
our house on the side of Sugar Loaf.”
*My (Betty Latta Kitchen) note,
2026: When Emma said “we all spent time . . . in the Fanny Doane Home” she was
referring to herself and her siblings: Mary Elizabeth “Little Mary,” John David
“Jack,” Margery Genevieve, and Miriam “Lois” Latta.
Their parents were missionaries in Burma who came home to Granville on furlough
every seven years. In Old Lady Talking: My First Memories Are of Burma,
Emma said: When I was three, the four older children were left in the Fanny Doane Home for missionary children in Granville, and I
returned to Burma with my parents. So my first memory is of being an only child
and reciting the names of Mary, Marge, Jack and Lois.”
From Eric David Matz, 2026:
This photo was probably taken by Lake Latta Matz, who was a real camera buff. He is the son of Christian Adam Matz and Louisa Ellen “Lou” (Latta)
Matz.
From Laura Louise (Webber) Pierce, 2026: The roof was
on top of their house in Granville. John Tilden Latta
designed the house himself and had redwood boards imported from California.
There are lots of photos of get-togethers on that top porch.
Last modified October
31, 2026 by BK.
Provided by Betty Latta Kitchen
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