Part II

My research is all but complete. I am currently still waiting on the letter from my great aunt Mary Jane (Grandpa's sister) so I can document my grandfather's childhood. Though I do not have this information yet, I know he was born October 13, 1945. I was able to learn more about my grandpa by email-interviewing my grandma.

He and my grandma had their first date in 1963 and were married June 5, 1965. For their first two years of marriage, both of my grandparents worked at the New England Baptist Hospital in Boston, where my Uncle John was born. After that, they moved to New Holland, PA, soon moving back home to Ephrata, PA. My grandfather also became the father of another son, Jeffrey, and two daughters, Joanna and Janella. My Grandma says he was a great dad and loved taking care of babies and children (theirs and in general), an "inherited trait" from his grandfather. Grandpa also instilled respect in his children. He loved my grandma very much, and at one point asked her, "Is it possible to love you too much?" 

From my Grandma's interview, I can truly see my grandfather was a hard worker. Before he married, Grandpa had to drop out of school to work. He worked on a dairy farm and on his own farm, and he also worked as a cashier at Hollinger's Market as well as at a shoe factory. After returning from Boston, he became a truck driver, delivering limestone. He went to nursing school in 1974, got his GED, and became an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse, or LVN) in 1976. He worked at West Reading Hospital for almost 9 and 1/2 years, but left to find a better paying job to support his children starting college; he went back to truck driving. Eventually he returned to nursing, his passion; his last job was at Helping Hands, a day care for children with health problems. There, "Papa John" was loved by all. 

Grandpa loved music and singing, playing games, coin collecting, and traveling. He and my grandma visited Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, France, Japan, Israel, Canada, and Mexico (when they visited us in Texas). However, the majority of their international travel was after their children were grown. Grandpa also spread his warmth and care when they hosted more than 50 international students. 

As most of his life was spend in Ephrata, PA, there were several community and area events that occurred during his lifetime. One was the Ephrata Farmshow, which occurs every year for the entire third week of September. There, he entered his crops in the crop exhibition, often placing 1-3 and bringing home prize money; he was known for his tomatoes, squash, pumpkin, and Indian corn. Another significant event that occurred during my grandfather's lifetime was the Three Mile Island nuclear emergency. This occurred in Middletown, PA on the Susquehanna River, about an hour from Ephrata. A partial nuclear core meltdown of TMI's Unit 2 reactor occurred due to equipment failure. My grandpa and his family were frightened just like everyone else in the area, relying on news from the radio since they were Mennonite and did not have TV. It is important to also mention the historical and cultural milieu. Ephrata is a small town located in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It was originally home to the Ephrata Cloister, a religious community founded by German Conrad Beissel. Ephrata has not changed dramatically from the 1970s to present; much of it remains the same. There are many Mennonites and Amish people, and the population is largely homogeneous (mostly white of Swiss or German descent). It is home to farmland and small businesses, and it has only one high school.