Some people are lucky to have friendships that last a lifetime.

But for two families who were first united 140 years ago, friendships have lasted through five generations and remain alive today.

Meet the Porter and Hughett families.

It was 1882 when Thomas and Ann Porter homesteaded on farmland near Duncombe and became neighbors with Mark and Maude Hughett, who homesteaded on their own farm after coming to Iowa in a covered wagon from Wisconsin, where they met.

They became fast friends, continuing to be close as they raised their children. That friendship was cemented on the economic side when they went together to purchase a thresher, a farm machine for separating small grain and seed crops from their chaff and straw. Well into the 20th Century, that thresher was still operating.

“They were good friends and they trusted each other,” said Sue Porter, great-granddaughter of Thomas and Ann.

“Our families are good friends all these years later. Over the years we have traveled to visit each other, gone on trips together, attended birthdays, funerals and baby showers and other life events. There have even been times when we’ve stayed with each other for a few months. They are sort of like cousins that aren’t cousins.”

Lee Hughett, grandson of Mark and Maude, said, “We enjoy each other’s company. No putting on the dog, that kind of stuff, it was just a good family relationship. We’ve all scattered and may not see anybody for a while, but when we do, it was just like we’d been together yesterday. We went on from there.”

Sue – Billie Sue to family and friends – and Lee are members of the families that have kept in touch to this day – the children and descendants of Delbert and Elaine “Billie” Treloar Porter and Gordon and Violet Hughett.

Gordon and Violet had five children: Lee, Bruce, Sandra (Consier), Gwen (Ashbrook) and Nicolette. Delbert and Billie had four children: Robert, Mary (Porter), Ann (Porter Stoner) and Sue (Porter).

The Porter family was perhaps best known in Fort Dodge through a restaurant that was originally part of the Treloar’s chain, Max Treloar’s Pancake Feast. It opened in 1961 and was sold five years later toMax’s sister Elaine “Billie” Porter and her husband Delbert Porter, and became Del Porter’s Pancake Feast, operating until they sold it in 1978.

Sue Porter, who is a granddaughter of Treloar’s founder Papa “Les” Treloar, lives in downtown Phoenix. Hughett lives 20 miles away in Sun City, Arizona. Sue’s sister, Mary, lives in a Phoenix suburb and another sister, Ann, lives in Cedar Falls. Their brother Bob is deceased.

The Porter farmstead was designated an Iowa Century Farm in 1986 – applied for by Thomas and Ann Porter’s son George, who was Sue Porter’s great uncle.

While living in Fort Dodge, Del Porter and Gordon Hughett became close friends. When Gordon and his wife Violet moved to Arizona, the Porters would drive out to visit and then became snowbirds themselves in the 1970s. When the Hughletts moved, their son Bruce took over the family farm before it was sold.

The five children of Gordon and Violet Hughett were “great friends with my siblings,” Sue Porter said, “and at 62, I am actually the age of their children. Lee Hughett, who is 86, is the only surviving child of the Hughetts.”

Lee Hughett graduated from Fort Dodge Senior High in 1953 – his parents were also FDSH graduates – and Sue Porter graduated from FDSH in 1978 – as did all of her siblings and as did both parents (in 1938).

Lee is the only surviving member of his generation of Hughetts. His brother Bruce and sisters Gwen, Sandy and Nicolette are deceased. Lee and his former wife Jane have five children, 10 grandchildren and 35 great-grandchildren.

A Hughett presence remains in Fort Dodge.

Bill Hughett, son of Norma and Bruce Hughett, and his wife Kristy and their children Landon and Leah. Bill’s mother also lives in the city. Bill works at Van Diest Supply Company and Kristy at the Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency. Their son Landon is working on his fourth year of becoming a plumber while with Bergman Plumbing, and daughter Leah just completed her degree at the University of Northern Iowa to become a speech pathologist.

Like many families, the Porters and Hughetts next generations have spread beyond their hometown – and many of them are in the Phoenix area.

“Most of the remaining Hughetts live here, in Phoenix, and we see them from time to time,” Mary Porter said. “In fact. MaryJane, Lee’s ex-wife, and I have dinner together, every two weeks.

Sue Porter said the families have “supported each other through friendship and crisis. Norma Hughett made food for my mom’s funeral – my mom and I fixed the food for her mother’s funeral. We’ve always been there for each other.”

“Over the years the families have shared camping in Rocky Point, Mexico, and San Diego. Good memories include mountain climbing in Arizona, boating at Twin Lakes in Iowa and Saguaro Lake in Arizona, many BBQs and dances with the families and all the children playing games.”

During their growing-up years in Fort Dodge, the Porters and Hughetts would join for ice cream socials every other week and had fried chicken – straight from Treloar’s, of course.

“If you ever wanted good chicken, that was the place to go,” Sue Porter said. “We made homemade ice cream from a big block of ice we brought from town and then used hand crankers to make the ice cream.”

Lee Hughett’s favorite ice cream memory: “I just remember gatherings with food being present. Homemade Ice Cream. Kids these days don’t know the battle for the dasher.”

There were gatherings at Billie and Del Porters’ cabin on Twin Lakes and lots of excursions in their daughter Mary’s pontoon boat. They sold the cabin in 1978 but their daughter Ann still has property at Twin Lakes.

Both Sue Porter and Lee Hughett hope the family ties will continue long into the future.

“It is still continuing – that’s what is so amazing,” Sue Porter said. “The two families are still making memories and still keep in touch. My kids are in their 30s and are in contact with the Hughett kids. Of the two families that live in Arizona, the youngest generations still keep in touch – inviting each other to baby showers, birthday parties and picnics.”