Wedding couple well-remembered in communities

It’s only fitting that the Rev. Jim Bryan of Missouri United Methodist Church was chosen.

Bryan, who has been the senior pastor at the church on Ninth Street for six years, has ties to the families of both the bride and groom.

The family of Ann and Stan Kroenke have been members of the church for many years, Bryan said. Both Kroenke children, Josh and Whitney, grew up in the church and were confirmed there, he said, and Ann Kroenke was a member of the church when Bryan’s own father was pastor more than 30 years ago.

Bryan is also good friends with the family of the groom, Ben Burditt.

“I know the Burditts better than I know the Kroenkes because I lived in Warsaw,” Bryan said.

The groom’s father, Larry Burditt, and Bryan attended Hickman High School together in the 1960s.

“It’s kind of an amazing connection,” Bryan said, referring to his own relationships with both families.

This is the first time Bryan will conduct a Kroenke family ceremony, however, the funeral service for the bride’s grandfather, co-Wal-Mart founder James “Bud” Walton, was held at the church in 1995.

Whitney Kroenke is the daughter of an heir to the Wal-Mart empire, Ann Walton Kroenke, 55, and real estate developer and sports team owner Stan Kroenke, 58, both of Columbia. According to Forbes Magazine’s most recent list of the 400 richest Americans, published in September 2005, Ann Kroenke’s net worth was $2.6 billion and Stan Kroenke’s was $1.8 billion, making them the 89th and 164th wealthiest Americans, respectively.

Whitney Kroenke transferred from Rock Bridge to Hickman High School for her junior year, and graduated in 1995.

She joined the pom-pom squad her senior year and participated in a musical production of “Pippin” as part of the Musical Theater Production Class, according to her high school yearbook, and shared the lead role with classmate Benjamin Hook of Columbia, an MU forestry student.

“She was very nice,” said Hook. “It was a narrator part. We split it up, and she did more of the dancing, and I did more of the singing.”

The play was a part of Hickman teacher Martin Hook’s class. He said that Whitney Kroenke made friends easily and socialized with others. “She is a wonderful young lady,” he said. “She was dedicated to the art, a hard worker and very pleasant sweet girl.”

Whitney Kroenke, who graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in theater, went on to become a successful actor and producer with her own production company, One Way Productions.

She was a member of a 2001 stage production of “Romeo and Juliet,” which took her to Beirut and London. She was also featured in two short films, “The Rush Policy” and “Beth Mack.” She has produced films including “Playing for Change” in 2003 and “The Murder of Donovan Slain” in 2004. She was the casting assistant for “Shiloh 2: Shiloh Season.”

Along with her father’s sports network, Altitude Sports and Entertainment, Whitney Kroenke produced “11 Days in October: The Starz Denver International Film Festival.” The documentary won a Telly cable award for best cultural programming.

Whitney Kroenke is no stranger to philanthropy. In 2004, she hosted Paws for the Planet at her home in Malibu, Calif., to benefit Ecolutions, an environmental awareness group, and Little Angels Pug Rescue, which cares for pugs that have been abandoned.

“With her and her mother’s efforts, at least 400 pugs are alive that wouldn’t have been,” Sherrie Woodbury, president of Little Angels Pug Rescue, said. “We are more indebted to her than words can express.”

Kroenke, who has a pug of her own, contacted Little Angels wanting to help. She donates money, helps at events and fosters pugs, making her one of the organization’s best supporters, Woodbury said. “She is very philanthropically orientated,” Woodbury said. “It takes a special human being to extend their love to pugs.”

The groom, Ben Burditt, is like a son to Randy and Marsha Eaton of Warsaw, who have known Burditt all his life. “There’s not a better young man in the world,” Randy Eaton said.

The Eatons plan to make the 100-mile trek from Warsaw for the wedding festivities, but their son won’t be with them.

Eran Eaton, one of Burditt’s groomsmen, is serving in the U.S. Air Force and left for Iraq six weeks ago.

“It’s very hard to miss out on one of your best friend’s biggest days,” Randy Eaton said, conveying Eran’s regrets.

Randy Eaton said his son lived with Burditt in Columbia, where he also became friends with Whitney Kroenke.

Randy Eaton said his son and Burditt played football together growing up and were something of “daredevils,” rappelling off cliffs at Truman Lake and taking ski trips.

Randy Morrow, the former football coach at Warsaw High School, remembers Burditt as a little kid, watching from the sidelines, wanting to play. He went on to be an All-State quarterback in his junior and senior years. “There’s not anything he can’t do or wouldn’t try,” Morrow said.

Morrow plans to attend the wedding with his wife, Debby, and said he’s rented a tux for the black-tie affair. “This wedding will probably be the one that we remember for a long, long time,” he said.

Bryan said that this wedding is no different than any of the other weddings he frequently conducts.

“I guess my feeling is that” the families “would like for this to be a normal, family event instead of a media frenzy,” he said. “I look forward to sharing a wedding day with two young people and their families, like at any other wedding.”