The Hirschy Newsletter

for descendants of Philip and Julianne (Frey) Hirschy
January 1996 No. 9

Return to the Newsletter Index.

LETTERS

Philip W. Hirschy (3.6.3.6) Evans City,
PA. Thanks so much for your time and
energy in publishing the "Hirschy
Newsletter." Enclosed find a check for a
two year renewal.
  This week we had a special music
emphasis at our church which honored hymn
writers with pictures and short
biographies. A question was asked, "How
would you like to be related to a famous
song writer?" Than a picture of Elton
Roth was flashed on the screen. A little
of his life was reviewed and "In my heart
there rings a melody" was played and the
congregation sang it. The leader had no
idea that any one in the audience was in
fact related to any of the hymn writers.
  I knew my father Norman (3.6.3) was a
class mate of Elton at Ft. Wayne Bible
Institute and thought he might be related.
Looking up in the Hirschy Genealogy I
found that we were. Your friend in Christ
and relative.

Letty Wilhelm (3.2.1.2) Santa Anna, CA.
  Thank you so much for the Hirschy
letter. My mother was the daughter of
Jacob Hirschy and her mother was the
former Mary Roth. My mother married John
Mollett.
  My only son, Donald Wilhem, passed away
on March 25, 1995. He was en route on a
medic plane and died just before landing
at the Reno, Nevada heart clinic.
  Since 1990 1 have resided at Town and
Country Manor in Orange County, It is run
by the Christian and Missionary Alliance
churches and there are over 200 residents,
plus a fine 200 bed hospital wing. We
have our own apartments and 3 meals a day
in a fine dining room. There are several
Swiss residents here: a Mrs. Klopfenstein,
Rev. Roy Ramseyer, Mrs. Elva Baumgartner
Winteregg from Berne, IN. We are located
on 11 acres of landscaped grounds. We
have a fine chapel and an Alliance pastor.
Our climate is very nice, we are 30
minutes from the Pacific Ocean and near
lots of orange groves. 1 hour from San
Diego, and I hour from Los Angeles.
  I hope you will be able to read this as
my eye sight is very poor.
  I have been in Fort Wayne many times.

Sol Lehman was my uncle and his wife and
my mother were sisters. They lived on
Rudisill near the Bible School.
  I have enclosed a check of five dollars.
Thank you again for the Hirschy news.

Mildred "Millie" (Williman) Radebaugh
(2.7.3.4) Dekalb, IL. I'm sorry I've
delayed so long in getting this book and
the newsletters. I would like a one year
subscription to the newsletter and the
hardcover book.
  I enjoyed the newsletter you sent,
especially the one about "Dad's First
Car." I an seventy-seven years old and
can remember riding in those old cars. I
remember Dad had a car when I was four
years old and we lived in the country. We
drove to our country church in a car but
many people still used horses and buggies.
  When I was thirteen Dad had an Auburn
which we all loved. It had seats that
folded down from each side in the back
seat. We still have a picture of that.
  I remember Dad getting out and cranking
one of the cars to get it started. We've
come a long way since then.

James and Joan (Snell) Gayfield
(3.1.4.4.2) Hays, VA. You must be quite
busy! I read you were helping with the
OMII Genealogical Project.
  We, too, are extremely busy. We are
not as efficient or as disciplined as we
should be either. We took on a part-time
early morning paper route job in addition
to other chores and my husband's regular
job. The paper work is pretty involved as
it is a 300+ route. Not quite half of the
people are prepaid, so we must bill and
collect for around 160 customers. At this
point we look longingly at a computer!
  We learned some disturbing news
regarding our old church in Thurmont, Md.
The dear pastor, who is truly a Christian,
had fallen into sin and had to step down.
It is so saddening and tragic as he had
been quite good at building up the church
and preaching the gospel. He was also
very kind. It is possible he did not have
close, accountable relationships with
other godly men, which would certainly
have helped to keep his life going
straight for the Lord. I know pastors

have tremendous pressure and perhaps the
devil works harder on them. Do you have
any ideas on this subject?
  I did mention on the phone that our
fifth child, Melody Joy was named with the
song, "In KY Heart There Rings A Melody"
in mind. I had no idea a relative had
written the song. Of course I was blessed
to learn of Elton Roth. It is truly
wonderful our ancestors knew the Lord and
probably prayed for us!
  Thank you for the work you have done in
preserving family history.

Genevieve and Clinton Leightner (4.5.1.3)
Pandora, OH. Enclosed is my check to pay
for two Hirschy books and the Hirschy
newsletter. Please send me one of the
books and the newsletter. Please send one
of the books to our daughter Linda. S.
Tuttle, Norcross, GA. Thanks.
  Linda's son, Steven, graduated from
Georgia Institute of Tech., Atlanta.
Steven married Shannon Denise Lord on 8-6-
94. She was born 9-15-71. She graduated
in 1995 from Agnes Scott College, Atlanta,
GA.
  Clint is improving at the Hilty
Memorial Home. PTL. He is eating good and
were both sleeping better. He is there
for 13 days - not sure what I'll do next
week.

A Hirschy in-law does something unique.
She compiles news of her children, grand-
children and great grandchildren and puts
out an update as a Christmas letter. Here
are some excerpts:
Velma (Greenhalgh) Runyon (4.8.3.3) East
Lansing, MI. A trip with a ladies work
team to Bolivia was a pleasant escape from
Michigan winter for two weeks. I continue
helping with the toddlers at Church. The
end of June I was fortunate to again
attend the World Gospel Mission Conference
at Taylor University in Indiana.... A long
time dream was realized as I walked the
Mackinaw Bridge on Labor Day. At another
time I mastered the Sleeping Bear Dunes.
  David and Diana Laverdiere
(4.8.3.3.1.4) Charlotte, MI. David is
President of Laverdiere Painting. Diana
is a secretary at Charlotte (MI) hospital.
David went with a work team to Jamaica
with a group from Charlotte Baptist
Church.
  Jane (Nichols) and Greg Bond
(4.8.3.3.3.4) Casselberry , FL. Greg

manages Florida Map Company and Jane is a
full-time mom, Greg attended the World's
Book Fair in Germany this summer, as a
business venture.
  Terry and Barbara Becker, Jr
(4.8.3.3.5.1) Eaton Rapids, MI. Terry
works for the Parks Department in Lansing
and now is in charge of grounds at Potter
Park Zoo. Barbara is employed at the
extended care Facility in Diamondale and
volunteers 1 day a week at Critter Alley,
Grand Ledge, a place that cares for
wounded wildlife.

For the last letter, here are excerpts
from the Christmas letter of Marden and
Marianna (Enz) Habegger (4.5.5.1) Reedley,
CA. Early in 1994 we had made the
decision that we would sell our house and
move ;to an apartment at Sierra View
Homes. It proved to be a momentous
decision and involved a lot of hard work.
We had to get rid of half or more of our
possessions. The children were able to
take some things and the rest we sold or
gave away. On Jan 31 we finally moved the
last things and ourselves to our new home.
it was the first such move in 28 years.
  Sierra View Homes gave Marden
permission to have a greenhouse built on
the grounds, and his orchids are doing
well in their new hone. It is one of his
great joys to keep the nursing home and
residential care section supplied with a
large variety of blooming orchids, and the
patients love them.
  After fifty years of medical practice,
Marden completely retired on Feb. 28. For
the past fourteen years he worked only
with senior citizens in nursing hoses. He
had been Medical Director since the
opening of Sierra View Homes, and upon his
retirement he was given a commendation and
a fine clock.
  Marianna continues to work at the MCC
stores as a volunteer and works a half day
each week.
  In 1995 we were able to take in two
more Elderhostel programs, making ten in
all. In April we drove to Ashland, OR,
where we enjoyed the Shakespeare Festival,
lectures and plays. The other Elder-
hostel, about a month ago, was located
only 25 miles from home, near Dunlap, at a
Greek Orthodox Retreat Center. There we
had very fine lectures on ancient Greek
philosophy and an exposure to Greek food,
dancing and culture.

UPDATE ON THE HIRSCHY GENEALOGY   For the past six months I have been
placing the information in Samuel Lehman's
Famielien Register (the record of
Mennonite families in Adams County) into a
genealogical data base. In doing this I
have discovered that there are more
Hirschy families listed in this record
than I was aware of.
  Besides Samuel Hirschy (4.5) my
grandfather, there are two other sons of
Louis Hirschy: Peter (4.6) and Jonathan
(4.8) In both records I discovered
something new.
  In the record for Peter (4.6) there is
given the birth of another child that did
not live beyond its birth. A girl was
born between Emmaline and Joseph. She was
born Aug. 17, 1884. Thus Peter and
Susanna (Bandy) Hirschy had a total of 18
births. This number of births is the
highest number for any mother in the
Hirschy Genealogy.
  Susanna had her 18 children in 25
years! From 1881 to 1889 she had a child
every year, a total of 9, and only two
died in infancy. There were three years
between the last two of her children.
  What is amazing is that only two died
at birth and two others lived 7 and 10
days. Another died at 7 months of brain
fever. Thirteen lived to adulthood. Of
these thirteen 2 remained single. The 11
others bore a total of 47 children. Etta
Lucinda (4.8.13) had eleven children. It
is possible that there were other
grandchildren for there is no information
about Emmaline (4.6.4) who was disowned by
her father. It would be interesting to
discover more about her life.
  Other new information about Susanna
Bandy is the names of her parents. They
were David Banty (sic) and Elisabeth
Mattison. And Susanna and Peter were
married in Lima, Ohio by J.G. Nieffen, a
Lutheran minister. The name Bandy (Banty)
is likely of Swiss origin .
  We wonder how it happened that the
family of Peter was recorded by Samuel
Lehman. It could be that since he married
outside of the Defenseless Mennonite
Church and his wedding was officiated by a
Lutheran minister that he was put out of
the church. However the family did move
to Reno Co., Kansas where two of their
children are buried in the Evangelical
Mennonite cemetery. Did something occur

there that alienated him from the church
for the family returned to Adams County in
1897. It may be that the family began
attending First Mennonite at that time.
Are there any family memories about those
early days?

  There is more reason for Jonathan's
(4.8) record to be in Lehman's book. His
wife, Lena Amstutz was a member of the
Berne Mennonite Church and minister
Christian Sprunger officiated at their
marriage. We were aware of his record.
However two errors were found in the
Hirschy Genealogy in rechecking the
information. On page 308 the birth year
for Magdalena (4.8.4) should be 1886. And
on pages 279 and 316 the birth year for
Elizabeth (4.8.10) should be 1896.

DESCENDANTS LOCATED   In the years I worked on the genealogy
no descendants of Lydia Hirschy Wurthner
(3.5) were located. She was the only
daughter of Philip Hirschy (3). She is
pictured with her brothers on page 146.
  This past year I learned about the
possibility of locating the phone number
of anyone in the U.S. through the computer
in the Genealogy Library of the Allen Co.
Public Library. In checking the Michigan
area I located the name of Lawrence Neal
Beamish (3.5.3.2).
  A phone call confirmed that he was a
grandson of Lydia and that the family was
interested in knowing more about their
Hirschy relatives. We will give more
information on the family in a subsequent
issue. The year of his birth was 1929.
Lawrence has not been well and recently
entered a nursing facility.
  I was informed that they had not heard
from a cousin, Donald Wurthner (3.5.2.3)
for several years and the last address
they had was in Largo, FL. There was no
phone listed for him in all of Florida so
he may no longer be living or he has an,
unlisted number. A letter to his last
known address was returned. Does anyone
in Florida have knowledge of him?
  When members of a family group lose
contact with the larger family, the
question arises as to the reasons behind
the separation. Thus far I have not heard
of any reason for this lack of contact.
It may only be because the Wurthner family
moved to Oceana Co., MI. But it raises
the question of whether Lydia's marriage

to a man who was not a member of the
Defenseless Mennonite Church led her to be
put out of the church and out of
fellowship with members of the family. The
family photograph, however, was likely
taken after Lydia's marriage.
  The last contact with the family may
have been made by Lydia's nephew, Walter
Hirschy (3.8.1) who worked on the Hirschy
genealogy following the death of Noah.
The last recorded date in our record is
the birth of Donald Wurthner in 1933.
Walter died in 1934. Lydia died in 1920.
There may have been no contact with the
family since 1934 until this fall.
  Lydia was married when she was 35 years
of age. It has been said that Christian
Wurthner was a worker laying the railroad
track that came through the Philip Hirschy
farm. This provided the occasion for
their meeting. What is interesting is
that Lydia is buried in the MRE cemetery,
Berne, IN. Her husband, Christian, had
died in 1914.
  Do any of you readers have more
memories about the relationship between
Lydia and her brothers and between the
cousins?

THE SAM STUCKY FAMILY   In 1972 Janet (Stucky) Brown (4.12.5)
put together an eight page, 11" x 16",
"Newspaper" titled STUCKY SPOTLIGHT for
her parents 50th wedding anniversary.
Samuel "Sam" David Stucky and Florence
Louise Clark were married April 22, 1922
in Detroit, Michigan in the Stucky
residence located on Greenfield Ave. The
house was converted into Lambert's Funeral
Home.
  Besides several articles this memento
has 37 photos of family members, birth and
death announcements, a couple poems and
recipes.
  The following article was written by
San Stucky in reply to the question, "When
did you accept the Lord Jesus Christ as
your own personal Saviour?"

One Decision affects an Entire Lifetime
  When did I learn to wash dishes, scrub
the white pine kitchen floor, sweep the
floor, dust the woodwork and furniture,
clean the bathroom? I can't tell you how
old I was, but I was very young. My
mother [Katrina "Kate" Hirschy (4.12)]
died in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1904, when I
was almost 3. I went to stay at Grandma

Stocky's [Barbara (Gerig) Stucky in
Berne, Indiana, and remember some of my
first lessons from there. It was there I
received my first spanking from John
Meriman, a boarder, for talking back to
Grandma. It was a lesson which was never
forgotten, but Grandma gave me a
peppermint candy, to stop the hurt.
Grandma was a widow, who loved the Lord,
prayed and read the Bible, so to me that
was the way of life. I loved my
grandmother.
  The next move was when Pa married a
young woman from Clare, Mich. He met her
while holding special evangelistic
meetings there, spreading the gospel of
Jesus Christ and leading souls to the
Saviour. Our first step-mother was Minnie
Ott, a German girl who lived on a small
farm ten miles north of Clare. She was a
small person, pretty, loving, kind and
everything that was good. She loved the
Lord, prayed and read the Bible. She must
have loved him very much to have married
him and bring the four of us children,
Gil, Obed, Kate and I, back together as a
family.
  There was a trip from Clare to the farm
that will never be forgotten. There was
lots of snow, as we rode in a big box sled
pulled by a team of horses. The straw was
about two feet deep and there was a
blanket to keep us wars. It was a long 10
to 12 miles trip.

Mission Opens in 1909   The family then went to Saginaw Mission
and later on to Detroit. It was decided
to move to Detroit because Kate had
infantile paralysis and there were doctors
here who could treat her. The Lord had
Skid Row men and women on his heart and
the mission was started in 1909.
  I soon learned Ma wasn't too well. Pa
had built a small house on Baldwin with a
small cellar, big kitchen, dining room,
living room, bath, three small bedrooms
and an upstairs for the three boys. It
was heated by a big hard coal base burner
and kitchen stove, with oven and hot water
tank at one end to keep filled with water
for washing dishes and baths. It was
great! We had water in the house, and a
sink in which to wash dishes. That's
where I learned how to work.

Mother Read Bible Evenings before going up to bed, Ma would
read from the Bible, pray and tell Bible
stories. She had been a school teacher in

Germany. Thus, winter nights were spent
around the baseburner and some time was
always spent considering the things of the
Lord. So at an early age I accepted the
Lord as my Saviour. Although I do not know
the exact date, I know that I have
accepted the Lord as my Saviour. Early in
my life I learned I was a sinner and Jesus
died on the cross to save me, because he
loved ne so much. As the song goes, "Yes,
Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so." I
first learned to pray, "Now I lay me down
to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to
keep. If I should die before I wake, I
pray the Lord my soul to take. God bless
and keep our loved ones and the Skid Row
people without homes." Years and God's
record can only tell the decisions that
were made for Christ.
  In the Mission at 710 Randolph we [San
and Florence] dedicated our lives to the
Lord to serve Him wherever He would lead
us. This was before we were married.
Through the years God has never failed us,
through sunshine or rain. We also
committed our family to the Lord and their
families and all the generations to follow
to the day when the Lord shall return,
that they may be a witness unto our Lord
and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

SAM'S WORK EXPERIENCE   Sam dropped out of school and began
work at age 15 in 1916. He began
employment with Fisher Body and was there
until Dec. 1929. When he was married in
1922 there was neither time nor money for
a honeymoon so he was back at work on
Monday morning.
  After a year with Lincoln Motor he
began to work for Good Housekeeping's oil
burner service in Sept. 1929. That was
the year the company got their first
telephone installed.
  In the following years he worked for
various companies installing and servicing
oil burners. He went into business for
himself in Stucky Oil Burner Service in
Oct. 1943. He had begun this service in
1940 while working for Kelvinator.
  In 1972 Sam said, "Now it is 1972. Our
service work business is fading out. We
are semi-retired on Social Security and
the business is almost done. Thirty-one
years were spent in service work in our
own business."
  During those 31 years Florence answered
countless service calls and started many

an oil burner for those who were
patiently, or otherwise, awaiting their
serviceman to return hose from a job. Or
she would call them on the telephone to
tell them what to do next.

MISSION RECORD
DATES BACK TO EARLY BOYHOOD (Excerpts from the article written by
Sam's older brother Gilead Stucky.)
  For the 1st 63 years, Samuel D. Stucky
has been interested and active at the
Detroit City Rescue Mission, which his
father, the late Rev. David C. Stucky,
founded in 1909.
  In the early years, as a boy, he
attended Sunday afternoon and evening
services, commuting by street car from his
hose on Baldwin. In the morning he
attended Bible school at the Missionary
church, which was located next door to his
home.
  As a teenager he would help in the work
of feeding the needy families and men at
the mission on Thanksgiving and Christmas
days. He helped pack baskets and deliver
them, set tables and washed dishes..
  In the first year that the Mission was
located on Rivard, he became a member of
the Board of Directors. Five years later,
he was elected assistant treasurer with
the late W. S. Kreger serving as treasurer
at that time. San served as assistant for
13 years.

Long Time Member   Sam Stucky is still on the Board of the
Detroit Rescue Mission and is active on
the Men's Ministry Committee and has
served on the Property Committee.
  Sam served on the Board for the last 15
years that his father was superintendent.
(He continued to serve on the Board until
he moved to Lakeview, MI about 1976. He
died in 1984.)

*            *            *
  Note from editor: Corrections and
additions to The Hirschy Genealogy, and
this newsletter, are welcomed.

BIBLICAL GENEALOGY
Deut.	34:6	To this day no one knows where his grave is.
Psa.	37:37	The man of peace leaves descendants. (REB)
Ezek.	16:44	Like mother, like daughter.

THE CURRENT
GENERATION
  The Berne Tri-Weekly of Dec. 22, 1995
carried news about Ben Fox 3.1.3.2.2.2.
This South Adams graduate had again
received All American honors as the
Hanover College football receiver was
named to the Little All America offensive
first team.
  Earlier in Dec., the son of Byron and
Millie Fox, Berne, was selected to the
American Football Coaches Association
College Division II Coaches All America
team.
  Fox led the nation in receptions per
game with 95 catches in nine games (10.6).
His 95 catches totaled 1,087 yards and 15
touchdowns. His 108 points snapped
Hanover's 46 year old single season mark
of 102 set in 1949 by Hank Treesh.
  Fox, the Panther's most valuable
receiver, help guide Hanover to a 10-0
regular season mark, an ICAC championship
and a berth in the NCAA III playoffs.
  The starting quarterback for the South
Adams varsity football teas, Fox led the
Starfires to its first sectional title.
He still holds many school records.
  The physical education major is an All
ICAC first teas selection.

On April 22, 1922 Florence Louise Clark
and Samuel David Stucky were united in
marriage at the home of the bridegroom's
parents on Greenfield Ave., Detroit, MI.
The residence has since been converted
into Lambert's Funeral Home. Rev. David
C. Stucky, father of the groom officiated.

PUBLICATION INFORMATION
  The Hirschy Newsletter is published
four times a year. Cost is $5.00 for four
issues.
  The editor is David L. Habegger, 6929
Hillsboro Ct., Fort Wayne, IN 46835-1818.
  If you have material you would like to
submit for publication, send it to the
editor.
  In correspondence please use the number
behind your name to identify yourself.

DATING DAZE started for Sam Stucky and Florence
Clark in 1919-she was 16 and he was 18. From all indi-
cations it must have been serious. They met at the
City Rescue Mission, where his father was Superintendent.

Mr. and Mrs. Samuel D. Stucky, Sr. were
honored at a reception on Apr. 22, 1972 at
Judson Baptist Church, Farmington, MI.
It was given by their children: Mr. and
Mrs. Samuel D. Stucky Jr. of Ann Arbor,
MI; Rev. and Mrs. John stocky of Wheaton,
IL; Mr. and Mrs. Carl Burk of St. John,
MI; and Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Brown, Detroit.

Return to the Newsletter Index.
E-mail the Author