IN PICTURES: Manjimup family reunion brings more than 160 descendants together to reminisce on heritage

A family reunion celebrating a couple that settled in Manjimup in the 1920s drew more than 160 direct descendants to the town to reminisce on their heritage last month. A whopping 42 grandchildren, 96 great-grandchildren and more than 30 great-great-grandchildren of Marko Radomiljac and Elsie Howell came from far and wide for the November 19 get together. It marked nearly 100 years since the pair migrated to WA in the mid 1920s. Marko — who migrated from Yugoslavia in 1927 — met Elsie, who migrated from England with her family in 1925, in 1934 at the Smithbrook dances. They married a year later in Bridgetown. Marko Radomiljac moved to Manjimup in 1933 and worked as a sleeper contractor carting telegraph poles for the State Electricity Commission, before purchasing a property on Seven Day Road in Manjimup, where he farmed tabacco, potatoes, apples, and dairy. Elsie’s father was granted Government land under the First Settlers Scheme — awarded to British soldiers migrating to Australia —on Lower Warren Road in Manjimup. Elsie lived and worked on the property with her family that they maintained as a dairy farm before meeting Marko. Marko and Elsie had 13 children, all of which were christened on the Gnjech’s farm in Manjimup and attended St Joseph’s Convent, now known as Kearnan College in Manjimup. The reunion included totem tennis and face-painting for the children, an abundance of food, and a display of family history memorabilia. Youngest son of Marko and Elsie, Steven Radomiljac, said it was fantastic to get the descendants of his parents together. “It’s just good to get together,” he said “Everyone there stemmed from my mum and dad — we had two different cultures combined.” Steven said some family members travelled from as far as New Zealand to attend the reunion, and also from Sydney, Perth and Carnavan. “It was well organised... 12 months in the making.” Steven said the renuion would not have happened without the support of the whole family, especially his sister Rosemary Brown who drove the event with the help of Joan Radomiljac.