Lani Pettit

PETTIT FRANZEN

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 10/13/2010 at 19:50:10

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Lani Pettit
By Lani Pettit

The writer of many family histories and the Sioux City history section of this book, is a Sioux City native and life-long resident, so far. So, I guess I will put her into the book, too. She is myself, by the way, and I would hate to miss this opportunity to communicate with those people reading the book a hundred years from now!

I am the daughter of Emma Mary Franzen and Frank Allen Pettit, Jr (see their biographies). My official name is Alana Susan Pettit, which has become a source of pride for this genealogist. I come form a long line of Allens. My father, Frank Allan Pettit, was named after his father Frank Allen Pettit, the son of Thomas J Allen, whose father was Allen G Pettit. That sort of makes me ‘Allen Pettit the 5th! I am also the 5th generation living in Sioux City.

Professionally, I have been an elementary teacher since 1970, in both Sioux City and South Sioux City. But my other interests occupy the rest of my time. They include: astronomy, photography, computers, church choir and handbell choir, skating, shortwave radio, and genealogy.

Being a ‘supertwinologist’ is one of the most unusual things in my life. The title, which I had to coin, means one who studies multiple births. This includes collecting, recording, photographing triplets, quads, tec., speaking to twin groups, and fellowship in the International Society for Twin Studies. While it is an undertaking that is useful to the scientific world, it is most enjoyable and fascinating as well.