By Benjamin GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | ©2026
July 3, 2026
They Were The Favorite Thing To See When She Returned To Olney.
My grandmother, Florence Lula McElroy Groff, loved visiting Olney, Illinois.
She always said there was one thing she looked forward to most:
“The white squirrels.”
She carried photographs of them and showed them to me when I was a boy. She was certain that one day my father would take me there during the annual summer exchange of family visits.
The tradition began long before I was born.
The Groffs had roots stretching from Switzerland to Illinois and eventually to Oklahoma. My great-grandfather, Benjamin Harrison Groff, was born in Illinois in 1892, the son of Ulrich L. Groff, who had emigrated from Wengen, Bern, Switzerland. Ulrich and his brother Michael helped establish the family’s roots in Illinois before later generations, including Benjamin and his brother Otis, sought opportunity on the rich farmland of Oklahoma.
By 1930, Benjamin and Florence owned their farm west of Eakly, Oklahoma, near Cobb Creek. The census records describe a family of modest means but great determination: a farm, three children, and a life built through hard work.
Yet the most valuable thing they built was not the farm.
It was the tradition.
Each summer, relatives would travel hundreds of miles to remain connected. Groffs married McElroys. Dowtys married Groffs. McLemores became family. Neighbors became family too.
I remember Delmar Groff, Laura, Darlene, Walker Groff, and his sister Cleo coming from Illinois. By the time I was old enough to appreciate the visits, my grandparents no longer made the trip north. But the Illinois folks still came.
Every year.
I didn’t realize it then, but I was witnessing something extraordinary.
A family choosing, year after year, not to drift apart.
Today, as I prepare to spend time with the Folks from Oklahoma, I think about my grandmother and those white squirrels of Olney.
I think about the roads traveled.
I think about the stories carried.
And I realize that perhaps the greatest inheritance our families passed down was not land, photographs, or old census records.
It was the understanding that distance is no excuse to stop loving one another.
That tradition, thankfully, is still alive
Groff Media ©2026 benandsteve.com Truth Endures
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A member of our writers group wrote a childrens book about white squirrlels, and it was adopted as one of Olney, Illinois’s official books.
Thank you, Mitch. That is incredible. If you happen to know the title of the book—or the author’s name—I’d appreciate it. I’d love to mention it in one of my stories and perhaps even contact the author for a brief interview. I still have relatives in that area of Illinois, so anything involving Olney’s famous white squirrels has a special interest for me. Thanks for passing this along. Happy Fourth of July!