Reunion, July 22, 2007 Monday at the Marriott Utah's first family of hotels is planning a gala reunion, but is still trying to locate nearly 12,000 invited guests BY JAMIE LAMPROS Standard-Examiner correspondent OGDEN Where in the world are the 12,000 living descendants of John Marriott? That's what Russ Marriott wants to know. Marriott said he wants to invite his cousins to the family reunion on Monday but he can't seem to locate all of them. "We've got 12,000 lost Marriotts," he said. "Most of them, I'm certain, live in Weber County, but we just don't know how to get ahold of them." Marriott said the family reunion will be held Monday from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Ogden Marriott Hotel. He said anyone who is a descendant can simply show up at the reunion. "We have all 12,000 names and we will be presenting them on a 150-foot chart so everyone can see where they fit into the family," he said. "This isn't just a little family reunion. Anyone who sees us will think it's a national convention." The Marriott family is best known for its hotels, resorts and suites, the settlement of Marriott (which became Marriott/Slaterville in 1999), Big Boy family restaurants and the A&W Root Beer franchise. Marriott International employs approximately 143,000 people in 2,400 lodging properties across the world. John Marriott Sr. was born in 1789. He lost his wife in 1844 and decided to move to Utah with his daughter, but they never made it: Both died of typhoid fever in 1849. His son, John Marriott, was born in 1817. He traveled from England to Nauvoo, Ill., where he helped build the Nauvoo temple for the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and also served as church founder Joseph Smith's personal bodyguard. Marriott's son, Hyrum, was the father of John Willard Marriott, who was born in 1900 and died in 1985. He founded Marriott Corporation, which became Marriott International in 1993. John Willard Marriott Jr. is currently CEO of the family business. As a side note, the youngest Marriott, Asia Diana, was born on Tuesday to Bill Marriott Morris and his wife, Erin. Morris is the city administrator and attorney for Marriott/Slaterville. The family reunion will begin with a news conference followed by "get to know your neighbor" games and a welcome by Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey and Marriott/Slaterville Mayor Keith Butler. Richard Sadler, Weber State University professor of history and dean of the college of social and behavioral sciences, will be the keynote speaker. Rick Price, founder and owner of Professional Genealogy Research, will also be at the reunion, as will representatives of the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers and the Utah State Historical Society. "It's definitely going to be a big deal and well worth the effort to attend," Marriott said. The day's activities will include awards for the oldest family members, those who have traveled the farthest to attend and those with the most grandchildren, Marriott said. Seventeen workshops will include the history of the making of Marriott/ Slaterville, how to do your family oral histories, how DNA helps find ancestors around the world and using a professional genealogist on the hard research projects. "We will also have over 15 booths and displays," Marriott said. "Everyone will also have a chance to have a mini-reunion that evening. We will also have a pioneer fashion show and a really good women's quartet." A family talent show will take place at 5 p.m., and old photos and journals will be scanned into the John Marriott Historical Society Web site. The historical society is a group of relatives of John Marriott Sr. organized in 1996 and incorporated in 1998 in Utah as a nonprofit corporation. By 1997 there were 625 members. In 1998 the family held its first organized family reunion since 1924. Also available to the family is a two-volume, 1,927-page Marriott's Redbooks Family History titled "The Marriotts: Workers of Flock and Field." "This is a really big deal and we hope our family members will see this and come to the reunion," Russ said. "We had 450 people come to the last reunion and we are hoping for a lot more than that this year." The cost to attend the reunion is $9.50 per person or $35 per family. 170