The Eiben family is well known in the Coupland area . . . at least to the folks who have lived here for any length of time. Harms Otten Eiben was among the original settlers of the Coupland area and helped establish St. Peter’s Church.
In 2001, Selma Eiben, wife of Otto Eiben (Harm’s grandson), began doing a fish fry as a combined birthday celebration for extended family at her home on County Road 459. A few years ago, the event quietly ended when the family matriarch moved to an assisted living facility.
Last summer, Matt and Honey Eiben, along with their children Sophia-Rae and Solomon, moved into the ancestral manor, which hadn’t been occupied for six years, and breathed some new life into the 90 year old home. Matt is the son of Charles and Regina Eiben. Charles is one of Selma Eiben’s three children and is a member of the St. Peter’s Church Council.
Selma Eiben passed away in December. I think that this moved Matt and Honey to revive the family tradition but with a distinctly modern twist. Invitations were sent out via Facebook to the extended family and close friends of the family. I and my family were honored to be included among those friends.
There were over 50 people present, some from as far away as Lubbock and Fort Worth. There were kids everywhere. And did I mention there was tons of food? Charles Eiben did the honors as the Head Fry Cook but there were many other delicious foods and deserts.
If you look closely, you can see the UFO at which this fella was aiming. They said it was just a clay skeet disk but that’s exactly what you would expect them to say.
There was skeet shooting and trampoline jumping and face stuffing and lots of great conversation! I heard quite a few wonderful stories, some of which I hope you will see on these pages in the near future.
As you can imagine, Honey was apprehensive about what people would think of what she and Matt have done with the old family homestead. As a relative newcomer to the Eiben family, she was meeting many people for the first time. I’m happy to report that everyone had a great time and Matt and Honey received a lot of well-deserved praise for the work they have done on the home.
Special thanks to Matt Eiben for filling in some of the gaps in my knowledge about the home and his family.
I hope you enjoy the images from this event. I welcome additional images and comments.
Stewart Dale Spencer
A Coupland sunset graced the end of the day.
A power outage shortly after sunset was our cue to say goodnight to the Eiben Clan.