Henry

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Henry's Line

Please send additional biographical information and photos to anglina(AT)ptd.net or fritzfamilyemail(AT)yahoo.com

Kenneth Alvin F. Family

Kenneth, son of Charles and Alma Grace (Patton) was born on in Locust Valley. He was a day shy of being born on Leap Year Day that year.

(Trivial INFO: The calendar year is 365 days long, unless the year is exactly divisible by 4, in which case an extra day is added to February to make the year 366 days long. If the year is the last year of a century, eg. 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, then it is only a leap year if it is exactly divisible by 400. Therefore, 1900 wasn't a leap year but 2000 was. The reason for these rules is to bring the average length of the calendar year into line with the length of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, so that the seasons always occur during the same months each year.)

It was a snowy day so the doctor was put behind schedule in getting to the Delaney house where Charlie and Grace boarded and worked on the farm. Grace said that when Kenneth was born, Charlie came into the room just in time to catch Kenneth before the floor did. This was their second child and first son. He proved to have many more near misses as the years went by.

At two years of age he fell down stairs and wound up landing, hind end first, onto the rod of a rumble seat that was sitting near the bottom of the stairs. At three years old he picked up a pick that didn't have a handle on it, gave it to Billy Heller, and told him to drive the stick that he was holding into the ground. Well, Billy missed the stick but got Kenneth in the head.

	Right Photo: Kenneth, Doris, Marie
	(Right Photo to be reposted yet): Marie, Doris, and Kenneth - Notice the house up the road at the top of the photo. This is the Delaney house where Kenneth was born while Grace and Charlie were boarding there.

Kenneth attended the Messerschmidt School on Chee Street in Locust Valley, Barnesville which was about a half mile walk from the house. Kenneth wasn't very interested in school, preferring to help out with the work on the farm that his Fritz grandparents and his parents ran. Growing up he helped his grandmother, Mary, raise chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, cows, cats, dogs, and rabbits. The rodents came and bred on their own. He also bought his own set of chickens to raise himself and sold the eggs. He and his brother Russell raised a calf as a project for the Lewistown Valley 4H club. It became the biggest calf ever raised on the farm and they won first prize for it. He would get up early and milk cows and do other chores so by the time he would get to school he was tired and ready for sleep. He admits that he did sometimes fall asleep during school. He learned much carpentry, electronics, mechanics, and agriculture as well as discipline working on the farm though. Kenneth had a terrific work ethic.

He attended high school, starting with the ninth grade, at Mahanoy Township. In September of 1953, at the start of 11th grade, he carried a baby calf to its mother cow and when he went to stand up straight again he couldn't. Grace wanted him to go to school that day but Kenneth told her that couldn't even stand up. Grace and Kenneth's older sister, Viola , took him to a chiropractor in Tamaqua. From there they had to take him to a doctor's office in Hazleton, and then he was admitted right into St. Joseph's Hospital in Hazleton for emergency surgery. He was there for about six days before he could return home to recuperate. He missed almost a month of school and got behind so he was held back to repeat that year. He turned 18 years old and didn't finish school.

On December 10, 1956 Kenneth signed with the National Guard in Tamaqua and received his diploma there. In July of 1957 he went to basic training at Fort Knox, KY. He then went for further training at Fort Bliss, TX as part of an anti-tank unit. Every time 5'6" Kenneth fired the big 90 millimeter gun he went up in the air. His unit leader came over to get him to stay on the ground. The next time he fired the leader went up in the air with him. He ended his training in December of 1957. In his second year the unit went for two week summer camp at Bethany Beach, Delaware. His third year he couldn't go anywhere because of a bad arm.

No one was certain of exactly how it happened but Kenneth's arm got severely infected. He'd been wrestling with one of Eugene's buddies, Washy (his first name was Wassel), and got scratched on the arm, or so that's what they think may have happened. His arm became swollen after quite a while and in May of 1959 he went into the Pottsville Hospital. To save his arm, about a pint of puss was drain from Kenneth's arm and he needed a skin graft. They took skin from his leg for the graft but they took about twice as much as they needed. Kenneth didn't know why his leg was so itchy and painful until they took off the bandages. He saw that they stitched the extra skin back onto his leg. He was in the hospital for about five weeks.

Kenneth got to play on the National Guard's basketball team and enjoyed being a part of the armed services. It was cut short though due to another hospital stay, this time for three weeks, in November of 1959. He was released from the National Guard in December of that year.

In November, Kenneth was riding a tractor on the family farm. He was coming in from spreading a load of manure on the fields and saw a squirrel run by. A farmer can't have rodents running around digging in the soil and ruining crops so he got off of the tractor and got a gun and ammunition to go shoot it. He couldn't find it anymore and he'd last seen it running up a tree. He got back on the tractor and headed over to the tree. The gun slipped down as he was driving the tractor and when Kenneth caught it with his right hand at the end of the barrel, the hammer tripped and the gun went off.

His thumb was hanging by a piece of skin and his fingers got run through. He turned off the tractor, placed the thumb in his hand, jumped the cow fence to go get help. He knew that only his mom was at home and she fainted at the sight of blood. (One would think she'd be getting used to it by now.) So he went down the hill to his Uncle Roy's house. Roy took him to Pottsville Hospital. The first person they saw at the hospital was the doctor who had saved his arm a few months ago and a nurse was with him. He recognized Kenneth and as he passed by he said, "You're the guys who said the empty gun never goes off." Kenneth said to the nurse who was still there, "Not a supposedly empty one, a definitely empty one."

The doctor couldn't save the thumb but he sewed up the fingers. He took the tip of the ring finger that was almost off, joined it back up with its digit, and bandaged it tightly. That tip healed back onto the finger and even grew back a nail later. He didn't have any pain in the thumb area, just the middle and ring finger hurt for a few days.

The state police had to question Kenneth since he'd shot himself. When they left, the nurse said that they sure gave him a grilling. When asked what questions the police asked him he said, "They wanted to know if the man who shot me was crazy." Always joking, even with a thumb shot off. He had to go to court for the accident and he had to take the gun with him. He was written up for carelessness with a gun and punishment was that he could not get a hunting license for a year. He lived on a farm though so that didn't mean much since he could still shoot the vermin and he was never much of a hunter.

He was in the Pottsville Hospital for three weeks with his hand. He had a small radio for amusement. One day he was listening to the news for a while. There were reports of a gas truck catching fire in Deer Lake which was near there. Some men got burned and some killed. When he turned off his radio, Mrs. Kathleen Jenkins, the head nurse of the men's ward, told him to put it back on. She said that they were taking care of those men all day and wanted to hear the reports. He turned it back on for the nurses to hear the latest details that the news people had. The nurses were mostly students taking care of the men's ward and they were very nice ladies. Kenneth still remembers their names. Perhaps he was there a bit too much.

Kenneth adapted to having no thumb on his right hand. There was extremely little he couldn't do since he was always quite determined. He was lucky to have only lost a thumb. One of Kenneth's memories of the news back then was a great flood in 1955 that swept through the area. The rush of the flood water was so great that a man reportedly went to get into his car in Tamaqua, got swept underneath it, and drowned. He thought, "You don't always know what's in store for you each day."

Kenneth started collecting O and O 27 Lionel model trains when he was a teenager and put up about 12 long tracks of train each year for the holidays. With his son, David, buying him a new train car for Christmas and his birthday each year, the engines would have a lot of work to do and weren't too far behind the caboose on the track. Kenneth also loved to collect music, starting on record, then 8-track, then cassette, and then on CD-only because that's what his daughter, Angelina, convinced him is best. He also loved to tape movies from the movie channels, especially the older ones 'when the movies were good' he'd say. They didn't have all of the violence and improprieties of today's movies and many recent movies are just remakes of the good originals anyway.

Kenneth worked in several places throughout his life, due in part to bad economical lows. He worked in a dye plant, textile plant, the local knitting mill, the local cigar factory, a modular home plant, orchards, steel mills, and many more jobs in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

He would carpool to work at Dana Corporation, a Parish Steel Division, in Reading, with a few other guys in order to allow his wife to have a car to run errands and take the children places during the day. When it was his turn to drive, the family got around on horseback for scout meetings and such. Sometimes when Kenneth would get injured at work in the steel plant, the company would send him in a taxi to the local hospital. Nowadays a company couldn't possibly get away with calling a cab for an injured worker.

Once in a while the family would get a call in the night, as Kenneth worked 2nd shift and often opted to work overtime, and someone at the plant would let his wife know that he's in the hospital again. Kenneth had steel driven into his leg and back injuries galore from working at Dana. It was a dangerous place before many safer practices were implemented. Because the company didn't offer any hearing protection, Kenneth became quite hearing impaired from his work over the years at the extremely noisy plant. Since he can't hear in crowds with the background noise feeding into his hearing aids, people usually find him to be a loud little guy because he can't hear himself talking.

Kenneth used to wear lovely leather belts with big silver buckles with inlaid turquoise and other designs that his parents would buy from the Native Americans in Arizona. His parents sold their house in the 1980s and drove around the country in their Winnebago. They'd spend winters camped in Yuma and send leather and southwestern goods back east for Christmas as well as plastic canvas and knitted and crocheted crafts his mother would make. Kenneth had to stop wearing the belts with the big buckles once his back got too bad. He switched to suspenders and people got to know his as the loud little guy with the suspenders.

When Kenneth was admitted into a Reading hospital for back surgery one day, he and his family found the nurse amusing when she asked if he'd had any previous injuries or hospitalizations in completing the form. She filled in the area on the form, went onto the back of the form, went for another sheet of paper, then gave up because she had other things to do yet before her shift was up.

He retired from the Dana Corporation on October 1, 1994. He joined the International Association of Lions Club of Tamaqua, in 1995 and was a member of the American Legion of Lakewood, since 1992. He was also a member of the National Rifle Association, the American Association of Retired Persons, and the Ryan Township Fire Co. for many years. He was extremely active in the Elks Lodge of Tamaqua, especially in keeping their grove fixed up and the greenery trimmed. He was a member since 1997 and their chaplain. He always took care of whatever needed to be done in whatever organization of which he was a part. He even got an award from the Lions Club for doing anything he was asked. The Christ Lutheran Church of Mahanoy City was pleased to have a member willing to be the acolyte whenever needed, usher the congregation for communion, serve on council, and volunteer to do whatever else he could. Whenever you'd ask Kenneth to do something, he did it full force.

His wife, Linda, a rural mail carrier 1995-9/99) helps families locally and across the country to trace their genealogical roots. She compiled our Descendants of David Fritz Volume I and Volume II.

Kenneth's son David Allan worked at J.E. Morgan Knitting Mills while attending Penn State University for an Associate Degree in Physical Therapy Assistance. He then worked for Cutco as a traveling cutlery salesman before going on to Rossville Chromatex, Culp Division textile plant. He attained his license as a fork lift driver at Chromatex but then left for further schooling in 1998. He graduated from Franklin Academy in Pottsville, as a certified therapeutic massage therapist. After working for a while with a chiropractor he found that massage was not lucrative in the area since it was considered a splurge and not covered under most insurances. He found work with a temporary staffing agency until he was hired at Stoves N' Stuff in South Tamaqua. He delivered and installed coal, wood, and gas stoves and 'stuff' such as awnings. He also works in their warehouse and loads the trucks for deliveries. He later attained a CDL and drove for Austin Powder Co until he returned to Stoves N' Stuff to manage the warehouse of the main store.

Daughter Angelina lifeguarded, taught swimming, coached a swim team, worked for White Birch Golf Course, Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. under Kelly Temporary Services as a secretary, as a tutor then later an educational planner to junior high and high school students, and for LaneCo and Redners Warehouse Markets as a baker and cake decorator. She completed her BA in French from Penn State in 1995, received a diploma in Gourmet Cooking and Catering from International Correspondence Schools in 1995, and earned certificates studying at the University of Nice and CELA (Centre d'Études Linguistiques à Avignon) in France in the summer of 1996, took education classes at Bloomsburg University, and earned certificates in computers, computer languages, Internet marketing/security...She's worked a few positions at Christ Lutheran in Mahanoy City and volunteered at the public library as well as being a member of the board.

Alma Grace (Patton) Fritz

"Grace" could always be found with a plethora of plastic canvas items, afghans, doilies and other decorative and functional things that she made to give to friends and relatives. She also sold these items for fundraisers at the White Church functions in Quakake as a member of the Lutheran Church Women. She was a member of Rush/Ryan/Delano Senior Citizens as well and took in many excursions with them. One could always find Grace smiling away and always pleasant to everyone. Whenever asked to dinner she'd be happy to bring her 'Grammy Beans' and 'Cherry Cheese Pie' (recipes in Fritz Family Cookbook) which we were all more than happy to eat.
Christmas 2005
Every time I'd call my Grammy Fritz to ask her if she needed anything at the store she'd always say, "A barrel full of money."
This year for Christmas the family got together and gave her exactly that.

Grace Matilda (Guers) Fritz

Grace was born on April 30, 1916 in Pottsville's Warne Hospital and lived in the small town of Mechanicsville, PA during her childhood. She went to school in Mechanicsville until 6th grade when she started at Pottsville's school at Garfield Square for 7th and 8th grade. Only girls went to the Garfield Square school and the boys went to the Jackson Street school. There was no public transportation so everyone walked. When she went to Pottsville High for 9th through 12th grade the boys were joined with the girls once again.

Grace began to hang out with Alma Grace Patton (Fritz) around this time. Because everyone called Alma by her middle name, Grace and her family called her "Pat," stemming from her last name of Patton, to avoid confusion. Grace studied hard for her good grades in school while "Pat" never studied but yet earned straight A's as well. Pat would go to Grace's house and play cards with Harry Louis Guers, Grace's father, a Pennsylvania Railroad dispatcher, while Grace was upstairs studying her school lessons.

Occasionally Grace's father would drive into Locust Valley to visit the farm of Alvin and Mary (Guers) Fritz . They would get milk, eggs, and whatever else was raised on the farm. Everyone, including Pat, would pile into the car anxious to spend time at the farm. This is how Pat met one of Alvin and Mary's sons, Charlie Alvin Fritz , and how Grace met another of their sons, Roy Edward Fritz . Grace and Roy married in March of 1938.

As an adult, Roy worked hard on the farm. He always pushed himself to do whatever he could to strengthen himself like unloading trucks of cement, fertilizer, or feed. When Roy was a boy he nearly died from appendicitis. The doctors didn't know until his appendix burst leaving him very sick and weak for a long time. He couldn't do the work that the others did on the farm due to the heavy lifting and so he stayed in the house with his mother and sisters and learned to cook and bake. He always loved his sister Viola 's baking and his sister Mildred 's cooking. Because Roy was so good in the kitchen, when he married Grace, she didn't have to cook and therefore never really learned how. She joked that she could burn water. She could make eggs for herself though and said that she made them quite often because she knew how so she could be proof that eggs aren't all that bad for you since she's such a spry woman even in her eighties.

Roy's mother, Mary, preferred to be outside when she could. Mary helped raise the animals and crops as well as many kinds of flowers. She would take the flowers and other goods that she raised to huckster in Mahanoy City and Tamaqua. (Huckstering was taking your home-grown farm goods into town to sell them.) Alvin said that the money she earned from that would be her "pin" money. She could do whatever she wished with it. She took a fancy to buying 'Lisle' stockings which weren't of silk and wouldn't easily get "ladders" (runners) in them.

Grace remembered how when bras with cups came out she was so shocked and that females showed the shape of their bust. She vowed that she would never do the same but years later found that that was all one could easily find in stores. Grace was always very thin and Mary would try to "fatten her up" at the farm.

Grace received a small scholarship that paid the tuition at Bloomsburg University but not for her books. At that time students were often hired to work in homes in the area around the university. She did this and worked in the library to pay for her books. While going for her teaching degree, she worked in a school playing the piano during lunch time to entertain and play along with students practicing their instruments. The state paid her to do this giving her enough money to make it through college. She joked that she "played her way through college."

Known sometimes as "Tillie" Fritz when she was a young lady, she played the piano in Lehighton. The nickname, Tillie, came from her middle name Matilda. In her later years she played each Tuesday evening for the Senior Citizens in Mahanoy City as well as at weddings and other events.

Grace first taught at rural schools after she got her degree. Some of the schools were the Lakeside school and Messerschmidt school in Ryan Township, the Grier City school in Rush Township, and the Lewistown Valley school. She mainly taught art and music as well as all other subjects. She and Roy lived in Mahanoy City, Hosensack, and lastly in Locust Valley where they had a dairy farm. When Grace taught her first kindergarten class in Grier City, they had only an 8th grade school room and so the chairs were far too big for the children. They sat on the floor and made do with old broken crayons and other items donated from families in the community.

In 1960, Mahanoy Area School District was established by a jointure of the Mahanoy Borough and Mahanoy Township schools. The rural school students were to attend these schools and the teachers were to be incorporated into Mahanoy Area as well. Grace was to go to Mahanoy Area to teach but there was another teacher, Mrs. Bankes, who didn't have her degree but wanted to get into the new school also. Grace was asked to find a position elsewhere and since she had a degree, it would make it easier for her to do so. Mrs. Bankes had five young children at home to take care of so Grace agreed to teach elsewhere. Mr. Matthews, who ran the Lakeside school, had a wife who taught in the Lewistown Valley school and they got Grace a position there. Lewistown Valley was later incorporated into the Tamaqua Area School District. Grace taught in the school on Arlington St. and also the North Ward in Tamaqua, PA, until retiring from teaching in 1975.

Gayllyn May Faust Rakos

Gayllyn married David Michael Rakos on October 16, 1993 and lived in Laurys Station, PA. Gayllyn was a doctor of Gynocology/Obstetrics for Allentown Osteopathic Hospital. The couple became the proud parents of a son, Nathanael David Rakos .

Amy Beth Faust Gallagher

Amy married Edward Gallagher on October 5, 1996. Edward was from Bethlehem, PA and was the manager of its Core States bank. They lived in Phoenixville, PA together and Amy was a pharmacist and made up shots for the Philadelphia Childrens' Hospital, Pottsville's Good Samaritan Hospital, and other medical institutions.

“History of Doris and Eugene's Family”

Doris and Eugene were Mahanoy Township High School sweethearts. Doris was a cheerleader and Eugene was a football player. Eugene was from Trenton and Doris from Locust Valley. After they graduated from high school in 1961, Eugene worked in the Mahanoy City cigar plant for about a year then signed up for the armed forces.

Eugene was in the Air Force and still in love with Doris. When he came home on leave in December of 1962 they quickly put together a wedding and got married on December 29 at a Greek Orthodox church on Mahanoy Avenue. Their reception was at the Ryan Township Fire Company where it used to be located on Route 54 in Park Crest where TNT is presently located next to the Brown Bag store. The Brown Bag used to be Chopsey's store and where the parking lot and gas pumps are now used to be Foster's grocery market. In the wedding photo where Doris stands with her parents and Gene, you can see to the right that there is a Christmas tree on a model train platform since it was Christmastime.

Doris	A. Grace and Charlie with Doris and Gene
Doris & Gene with wedding cake	Wedding Table: Grace, (Charlie), cousin Dolores, brother Kenneth, Doris, Gene, ...

The service took Doris and Gene all over the United States and its territories. The first place that Eugene was stationed after they got married was Cheyenne, Wyoming. Eugene Michael was born and died there November 3, 1963 and is buried in Cheyenne. Michael Eugene was born August 22, 1964 and Ronald Eugene was born June 5, 1966.

Michael in his baby hammock,	in his crib,
getting his first haircut a few days before his first birthday,	and his first birthday.

The family later moved to the Philippines for a while where Gene was stationed. They gave their parents gifts showing the excellent wood craftsmanship of the island. They gave Doris’ parents things like a wooden bowl and server set and also a giant decorative fork and spoon that still hangs in Grace’s house today.

After the Philippines they went to Lewistown, Montana where Darlene Dorothy was born October 1, 1969.

Gene’s next assignment was in Vietnam working road construction to help move the heavy equipment and tanks close to the fighting. Doris and the children stayed with her parents in Locust Valley, Barnesville, Pennsylvania.

After Vietnam, they had to move to South Carolina where they had Timothy Eugene July 13, 1972.

The next place that Gene was stationed was Alaska. Doris and the children couldn’t go with him since he was going to be out in the boonies and it was military only. While Gene served his country in Alaska, Doris and the children went ‘home’ to stay with Charlie and Grace once again in Pennsylvania.

After Gene came back from Alaska, he and his family settled down in Big Spring, Texas for a bit, then Altus, Oklahoma, and then finally Grand Forks, North Dakota where they stayed. Upon Gene’s retirement from the service they built a house. A couple of years later, after the Blizzard of 1993, they had to deal with massive flooding in Grand Forks. Everyone had to guard their property and houses with sand bags to try to hold back the damaging water.

Each year they would visit Eugene’s parents and Doris’ parents. Everyone would look forward to their summer visits. For many years the came in a station wagon.

Darlene, Timothy, Scott, Michael, Robert, David 02 June 1991

“Samanna & Michael to Wed”

‘Announcement has been made of the engagement of Samanna, daughter of Samuel W. G. of Barnesville and Jeannette G. G. of Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Michael E., son of Eugene M. and Doris A. B. of Grand Forks, North Dakota.

The bride-elect earned a bachelor’s degree from Wilson College, Chambersburg. Until relocating to Nebraska, she was employed by Juneau Youth Services in Alaska as supervisor of the crisis facility. She is pursuing a master’s degree in psychology. Her fiancé earned a bachelor’s of science degree from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. He is employed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a professional civil engineer in Omaha, Nebraska. The couple will exchange vows May 19, 2001 at Trail’s End Ranch, Barnesville.’

Samanna and Michael's Engagement Photo

Michael had been in love with Samanna G. for years. They were great friends and Samanna feared ruining the wonderful relationship they shared as friends by getting more serious than that. Michael kept visiting Samanna where she was living in Juneau, Alaska and also in Cheyenne, Wyoming when she’d visit with her mother there. They were inseparable when they were together and they would talk for hours everyday on the phone when they weren’t with each other. Eventually Samanna’s mind changed about getting married. Michael was extremely happy when she said ‘yes’ when he proposed to her at St. Theresa’s Shrine on a rainy day in Juneau, Alaska. Michael was nervous about saying exactly what he wanted so he’d written his thoughts and feelings about her on a couple of sheets of paper and the words were beginning to run from the rain dripping on them. He knew how he felt about her though and got down on one knee and asked her to marry him.

Samanna always wanted to get married on the land where she grew up in Locust Valley. They started making arrangements for the ceremony to take place there while Michael helped Samanna move from Juneau, Alaska to Yutan, Nebraska with her two dogs, her Rav4, and a U-Haul trailer and Michael moved from the house he shared with his friend, Dean Lang, in Omaha to Yutan. They made a few of trips to Pennsylvania in Michael’s Chevy Silverado truck to plan the wedding.

Samanna’s sister, Roberta, prepared a cookout for everyone after rehearsal on the eve of the wedding. The day of the wedding she videotaped the ceremony and festivities.

The weather was rainy and humid for many days before the wedding but with everyone’s prayers the day of the wedding was gorgeous. It was an outdoor wedding on the father of the bride, Sam G’s, property on Chee Street in Locust Valley. At the top of the hill they’d set up a beautiful aisle for all to walk up. It was between two rows of tall evergreen trees which allowed shade and the feeling of being in nature’s private enclosure made just for that day. A gazebo was placed at the end of the aisle where Reverend James Greaser stood to marry the happy couple. At eleven o’clock a horse drawn carriage brought the bridal party to the top of the hill. They disembarked at the trellised arch cascading with flowers at the start of the aisle, then the carriage returned with Samanna and her father, Sam. Pine needles were nature’s carpeting for the aisle that they all marched up and the flower girl sprinkled it with rose petals for the bride to walk upon.

During the ceremony, cousin Scott C. F. read scripture from Genesis, Psalm 23, and I Corinthians, the vows were exchanged then the rings, and the couple lit their marriage candle while the Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet played.

The wedding party consisted of:
Matron of Honor Lisa Souders, dear friend of Samanna, walking with the Best Man Eugene, dear friend and father of Michael.
Bridesmaid Christine Vaught, dear friend of Samanna, walking with Groomsman Ronald, brother of Michael.
Bridesmaid Darlene, dear friend of Samanna and sister of Michael, walking with Timothy, brother of Michael.
Bridesmaid Angelina, friend of Samanna and cousin of Michael, walking with Robert C. F., cousin of Michael.
Ring Bearer, Shane Jensen , nephew of Michael, walking with Flower Girl Kirstie, niece of Michael.
Ushers were Scott C. F. and David A. F. , both cousins of Michael.

A grand photo session was held after the ceremony since it was quite a while since either family had all been together like this. Dinner and dancing followed. The music was supplied by Ann-Marie Calabrese, a friend of the bride. The cake had a basket weave design with flowers arranged on each column’s tier. There were moist, delicious tiers of blueberry, banana cream, and strawberries and cream cakes.

Michael and Samanna honeymooned in Maui, Hawaii. They returned to Pennsylvania for a few days then packed up their wedding items and drove back to the mid-west where they started their new life together – dogs, cat, fish, and all – and Samanna began her master’s degree studies at the University of Nebraska. They then moved to the mid-west onto larger property with an old farmhouse and buildings they converted into barns for their horses.

Fritzes at G-B Wedding May 19, 2001
From far left through back row (and mid tandem): Jonathan Matuszkiewicz, Christy Matuszkiewicz, Brian Matuszkiewicz, Jr., Curtis, Sharon (Kazmarcyzk) F., Robert Bruno, Patricia (Matuszkiewicz) Bruno, Christopher Matuszkiewicz, Samanna, Michael, Viola (Fritz) Matuszkiewicz, Brian Matuszkiewicz, Missy (Bingham) Baird, Donna (Jones) F., Russell, Marie (Fritz) Bingham, Jim Bingham, Angelina, Scott, Robert, Eugene B., David, Timothy B.
Front row that starts at middle with Grammy Fritz: Alma Grace (Patton) Fritz, Cody Baird, Victoria Baird, Kyle Baird, Kenneth, Barry Bingham, Darlene, Doris, Ronald
In Front of Darlene: daughter Kirstie, Alexander B., Shane Jensen (kneeling)

Robert C., Curtis R., Sharon (Kaczmarczyk) F., and Scott C.

Mary Jane (Fritz) and John Edward Yanaitis Family

Mary Jane Fritz married John Edward Yanaitis on June 9, 1962 and together they had a daughter, Diane Annette Yanaitis , and a son, Daniel Joseph Yanaitis .

Diane was born on August 7, 1963. She graduated from St. Mark's High School in 1981, then from the University of Delaware with a degree in Physical Education and Health. She became a teacher of PE at Forest Oak Elementary School in Newark, DE. She was named Teacher of the Year in her school and Physical Education of the Year for the State of Delaware in 1992.

Daniel was born on March 31, 1967. He met Kimberly Ann Sipple , born on December 21, 1967, and they married on October 7, 2000 at the United Methodist Church in Felton, Delaware. Dan Nagle served as best man and Kathy Sipple, twin sister of Kimberly, was the maid of honor. The couple honeymooned in Hawaii and reside in Newark, DE.

Kimberly, daughter of William and Joyce Sipple of Viola, DE, graduated from Lake Forest High School in 1985. She graduated from the University of Delaware in the Agricultural Engineering Technology Class of 1989 and received her professional engineering designation. She's employed with Karins and Associates, Inc. of Newark, DE.

Daniel graduated from St. Mark's High School in 1985, then from the University of Delaware in the Agricultural Engineering Technology Class of 1989. He's employed by Chubb Group of Insurance Companies as a Senior Loss Control Representative.

Edward H. Kay

Hazleton Standard-Speaker, Friday, September 8, 2000

Born: 1934
Died: 2000
Died - Wednesday, September 6, 2000
Place of birth - Quakake
Place of death - Hazleton General Hospital
Church - Most Precious Blood R.C., Hazleton
Spouse - Mary Kinney, died 1997
Father - George Kay
Mother - Martha Fritz
Undertaker - Moran, Hazleton
Residence - Hazleton
Occupation - worked at White Haven State School; Meyers Industries, Valmont, Hazleton; and security
guard for Intrepid Detective Agency, Hazleton
Age - 66
Veteran of Korean War