Welcome to NeedlesWebs, the official website of the Needles family (at least, my branch of it).
This website is all about the Needles family, that is the part of it which includes Matt and Joy Needles. I'll give some history, as it was passed on to me by my parents and grandparents, mostly. My sources for information are rapidly diminishing, as only my mother is still alive, and one of my father's brothers. I have some of my paternal grandmother's old letters, which give insight into the early history of her family. My family name is very near to disappearing, as my only male cousin cannot have children, and my own full brothers do not have my family name, due to an adoption. My first son is not cooperating, leaving only my younger son to perpetuate the family name.
My Parents
My father was Wallace "Wally" Dwayne Needles. He was born in Crawford, Nebraska on April 5, 1938, to Woodrow "Woody" Wilson Needles, Sr. and Lula Bell (Sample) Needles, and was the fourth of five children. The family moved to Montana in 1942, and never returned to Nebraska other than my grandmother's occasional visits to her sisters.
My mother was born Helen Loretta Potter on April 9, 1939, to John Beamer Potter, Jr. and Edith (Touchette) Potter, and was the second of four children. Her father died before I was born, and Edith remarried George Unacks. They had a daughter, Darlene, born about the same time as I.
Wally and Helen were married on May 6, 1956 in Ovando, Montana, and lived in Ovando and Missoula.
My Siblings
I, Matt Jason, was born on Feb. 11, 1957, in Missoula. We moved to Grass Valley, California, for a time, but returned to Montana, where my sister Robyn Yvonne was born on Dec. 15, 1958. We went back to Grass Valley, but the climate did not agree with Robyn, so we returned to Montana, permanently. My other siblings were all born in Missoula, Montana. Virginia "Ginger" Belle was born Sept. 14, 1961, Lisa Marie on April 22, 1963, Carmel Rose on Nov. 12, 1968, Daniel "Danny" Wayne on March 17, 1970, and Wesley "Wes" Darrell on Sept. 14, 1971. Wes and Ginger have the same birthday, ten years apart!
The End of a Generation
Woody, Sr. passed away in 1984, and Lula in January of 1996. Dad's sisters have all passed away. Wally passed away on July 17, 2005, from heart failure and emphysema. Woody, Jr., Dad's only brother, is still alive at this writing (January 2017).
I'll write more history later, but this is a good start.