The Pence family is a prominent family in the United States who was the First family of Indiana from 2013 to 2017, and the Second family of the United States from 2017 until 2021.

Mike Pence an American politician and lawyer was the 48th Vice President of the United States, the 50th Governor of Indiana and a former United States Representative for Indiana's 2nd congressional district and Indiana's 6th congressional district is considered the matriarch of the family.

The family originates from Magdeburg, Germany, where the name was originally Bentz. The family also originated from Switzerland and Bartholomew County, Indiana. The family current region is in Columbus, Indiana, and in Carmel, Indiana, where the family owns a $1.93 million, 10,300-square-foot estate.

History Before the 1700s, the lineage existed as a medieval and early modern European family rooted primarily in Germany and Switzerland.

Around the 1740s, the three major branches of the Pence family had migrated from Pennsylvania to Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. The family had established deep roots into Shenandoah county, Rockingham County, and Page County in Virginia.

Over the next century, multiple generations of the family had moved progressively Westward.

By the 1820s to mid-1830s many branches of the Pence family had migrated to Bartholomew County, Indiana. The move had been started by several members of the family including Jacob Pence and Judge John Pence.

By the mid-1800s, descendants of the original Pennsylvania and Virginia Pences scattered across the Midwestern United States.

The family when moving to Indiana were involved in local government and agriculture through decades in the deep South of Indiana.

The Pence family for around the last 200 years has established the families history as hoosiers.

The Pence family last name comes from German descent but it has dual roots functioning as an American form of German descent. It comes from the German surname Penz or Benz. The last name also has a rare English nickname derived from the English middle word Pense which means pennies or Pence. The earliest records of the family name in America date back to 1727.

Wife and children

Karen Pence

Karen Sue Pence (née Batten, formerly Whitaker; born January 1, 1957) is the wife of Mike Pence of former Vice President of the United States. Together they have three children. She was previously married to John Steven Whitacker though the marriage ended in divorce. She was the First Lady of Indiana when her husband was governor of the state and she was Second Lady of the United States during her husband's tenure as Vice President of the United States. Together her and her husband had three children, Michael, Charlotte and Audrey and they have five grandchildren.

Pence attended Butler University and got to degrees one, a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Science degree. Through her life Pence was a schoolteacher who taught art. She continued to be into art and raised awareness about it when she was First Lady of Indiana and Second Lady of the United States.

Mike Pence Jr.

Michael Joseph Pence Jr. (born 1991 or 1992) is the eldest child and the only son of Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence and his wife Second Lady of the United States, Karen Pence.

Pence is a career military officer serving as a captain and naval aviator in the United States Marine Corps. He graduated from Purdue University.

Reports show that he had played a pivotal role on January 6 in advising his father to certify the 2020 United States presidential election. He had reportedly reminded his father of the oath he had taken to the United States Constitution in helping him to certify the election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. He married his wife Sarah Whiteside in December 2016 in a ceremony at the Indiana Governor's Residence. They have three children together.

Charlotte Pence Bond

Charlotte Rose Pence Bond is an American author, filmmaker and journalist who is the daughter of former Vice President of the United States Mike Pence and former Second lady of the United States Karen Pence.

She graduated from DePaul University with a double major in Digital Cinema Screenwriting and English, and later attended Harvard Divinity School.She married Naval officer Henry Bond in December 2019. The couple was introduced by Pence's brother Michael who served with Bond in the military. Together they have two children, a son and a daughter.

With her career, she wrote a highly successful children's book, Marlon Bundo's A Day in the Life of the Vice President which featured her pet bunny Marlon Bundo, the book was illustrated by her mother. She also authored Where You Go: Life Lessons from My Father (2018). The book talks about her perspective during her father's vice presidency and faith. She also co-authored a book Go Home with Your Father: Finding God's Direction when Your Plan Fails (2024) with her father. In 2014, while a student, Pence had co-written and served as an associate producer for Fleeced a documentary highlighting senior financial abuse, which won a Regional Emmy Award. She also hosts the podcast Doubting It and she works for The Daily Wire with news and podcasting coverages.

Audrey Pence

Audrey Pence Tomanelli is a practicing attorney who is the daughter of former Vice President of the United States Mike Pence and Second Lady of the United States Karen Pence.

Pence is a practicing attorney who is an associate in a Washington, D.C. office. His practice focuses on white-collar crimes, congressional investigations, and government investigations. She previously had served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida where she had prosecuted violent crimes and offenses against children. She earned her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Yale Law School. She had also earned her Undergraduate degree in International affairs from Northeastern University where she had also minored in Arabic.

She is also known for her different political views from her family and she describes herself as independent and socially liberal often voting different than her father. Her father has said that he respects her independence and is proud of her achievements.

Pence married her husband Daniel Tomanelli, on November 1, 2020. They had been college boyfriend and girlfriend before this and had met in 2015 during a study abroad program in the Balkans. She and her husband have no children.

Grandchildren Mike Pence and his wife have four grandchildren. Their son and his wife Sarah have two daughters. They have a daughter, Avery Grace who was born in 2021 and another daughter born in 2023 who is named Elene Marie. Their daughter Charlotte and her husband have two children one of whom includes a daughter, who is named Etta Rose. Their other daughter and her husband have no children.

Parents

Edward Pence

Edward Joseph Pence Jr. (July 5, 1929 – April 13, 1988) was an American Businessman and Military veteran who also was the father of Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence and United States Representative Greg Pence.

Born in Chicago Illinois, on July 5, 1929, to Edward Joseph Pence Sr. (a Chicago stockyards worker) and Geraldine Kathleen Kuhn Pence, he grew up in a working class environment where his father worked in the Chicago stockyards.

Pence attended Loyola University Chicago.

In 1950, Pence registered for military service and he served as a United States Army soldier during the Korean War. He had risen to the rank of 2nd lieutenant and he was awarded a Bronze Star Medal on April 15, 1953, for his service.

He married Ann Jane Cawley on January 7, 1956, and remained married until his death. Together they had six children, four sons who are Edward III, Greg, Mike and Thomas. They also had two daughters Anne and Mary Therese.

In 1959, the family had relocated from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio. He raised his family to be in a deeply patriotic, religious and conservative Roman Catholic environment.

Pence worked in the oil industry where he spent the majority of his professional career. He worked in the oil and petroleum distribution industry. Pence spent 23 years working for the Kiel Brothers Oil Company. The company had operated a chain of gas stations and convenience stores. With hard work, Pence rose to the position of Vice president of the company. Pence was highly active in regional trade and Civic organizations. This had included serving on the Indiana Oil Marketers Association, the Marathon Jobber Council and the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce, and as a director for Columbus Pro Musica.

Pence and his family were lifelong Democrats and voted Democratic in every election. However, in the 1964 United States presidential election after the assassination of John F. Kennedy they did not vote for his successor Lyndon B. Johnson and instead voted for United States Senator from Arizona, Barry Goldwater. The family eventually became more and more Republican during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. He died before his son's political career as a Republican.

Unexpectedly, Pence died on April 13, 1988, as a result of a heart attack. He had become ill while playing golf at the Harrison Lake Country club and he died in the emergency room at the Bartholomew County Hospital.

Pence is laid to rest at the Garland Brook Cemetery in Columbus, Indiana.

His son Mike Pence references his father as the embodiment of the American Dream citing his military service, work ethic and family values, resulting as a guiding source in his political career. The Bronze Star Medal Pence had earned for his military service was displayed in his son's office while he was Vice President from 2017 to 2021.

Nancy Jane Pence

Ann Jane "Nancy" Pence Fritsch (née Cawley; born 1932) is the mother of former Vice President of the United States Mike Pence and former United States House of Representatives member from Indiana Greg Pence. She was married to Edward Pence until his death and remarried in 2004.

Anne Jane "Nancy" Cawley was born in 1932 in Illinois Richard Michael Cawley and Mary Elizabeth Maloney. She is of Irish descent. In the 20th century her father had immigrated to the United States from Doonbeg, Ireland. She grew up in Chicago, Illinois, and went to college to get a bachelor's degree in Psychology.

She married Edward Pence on January 7, 1956, and they had six children, Edward III, Greg, Mike, Thomas, Anne and Mary Therese. Her husband unexpectedly died of a heart attack in 1988. She later remarried Basil Coolidge Fritsch in 2004 in Columbus, Indiana.

Pence had raised her children in a structured environment. She raised her children to be Roman Catholic. Her family has frequently credited her with instilling strong foundational values of faith and hard work.

With her career her main priority was to manage the household with her having six young children. She also strongly supported her husband's career in the managing gas stations and with convenience stores. In her later years she was speaker at regional political and fundraising events she also came into the public spotlight during her sons, Mike Pence's political career when he was a Congressman, Governor of Indiana and Vice President from 2017 to 2021. She also was involved with community service and volunteering for anti-abortion movements in Bartholomew County, Indiana.

Pence and her family were lifelong democrats and voted democratic in every election. However, in the 1964 United States presidential election after the Assassination of John F. Kennedy they did not vote for his successor Lyndon B. Johnson and instead voted for United States Senator from Arizona Barry Goldwater. The family eventually became more and more Republican during the Presidency of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. She also had stronly supported her sons political career.