I enjoyed reading this article on Mr. Sharer. Thanks for doing it. marythomas@compaq.net ----- Original Message ----- From: <JKHouser84@aol.com> To: <PACENTRE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2002 8:51 AM Subject: [PACENTRE] A Tribute to Ray J. Sharer (1899-2002) > Good morning, list, > > Returning from church this morning we saw the snowflakes falling round us. > The much-predicted "winter storm," the first of the year, is bearing down on > Centre County. Unfortunately, this means that the roads will be in too poor > a condition today for me to travel over the mountain to Centre Hall, PA, to > be personally present at the funeral service for my friend and relative, Ray > J. Sharer, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 102. > > I did not know Ray until he was past 100 years old; he was a half-second > cousin of my great-grandfather, and as such was (we believe) the last living > grandchild of Susan (Arbogast) Harter, my 3rd great-grandmother. He had a > few recollections of her; she passed away when he was 13 years old, in 1912. > > One day, glancing at the newspaper in 1999, I noticed in the "Milestones" > column that Ray Sharer of the Salem Hill Haven Nursing Home in Spring Mills > was 100 years old. I knew that my 3rd great grandmother Susan had been > married first, briefly, to a Sharer, who died not long after their wedding. > She had one child to him. Looking in my records, I found that this Ray > Sharer was one of the sons of this child. > > It was a little while later that we traveled over to the nursing home to > visit this newly-found relative. He was a remarkable man, an expert > woodworker (he made many decorations for the Home out of popsicle sticks -- > they were amazing). His memory was a little slow at the start, but once you > got it jogged, he would take you back nearly a century to a time and place > that now resides only in the history books, and in the memories of the few > souls such as him who have lived into the 21st century. > > The visits were very enjoyable, and I compiled the notes I took of his > conversations, along with some other data I had, into a biographical sketch > of Ray. Since I am not able to attend his funeral service today, I thought > it appropriate that he should be thus remembered on our list. I thus post > the biographical sketch here: > > A TRIBUTE TO RAY > > Ray John Sharer was born July 28, 1899, in Potter Township, Centre County, > Pennsylvania. His birthplace was a small cabin located on the property owned > by his parents, Jacob and Jennie (Hetzel) Sharer. > > Jacob Sharer, the father of our subject, was born August 29, 1857, in Walker > Township, Centre County, PA, the son of Jacob and Susan (Arbogast) Sharer. > His father's brother, David Sharer, went out hunting in the Alleghenies and > caught typhoid fever. It spread to his whole family, with the exception of > his mother and grandfather. His grandmother, Anna Mary (Henderson) Sharer > died on 18 Feb 1858, aged 52; his father, Jacob Sharer Jr., died just three > days later, aged only 19. > > Jacob's mother remained with the family for a few years, ultimately marrying > a local widower, Andrew Harter. Jacob remained with his grandfather, Jacob > Sharer Sr. He later was hired out to work for his aunt, Mrs. Henry Garbrick > of Jacksonville. > > In 1880, Jacob Sharer married Elizabeth Agnes Smeltzer and moved to a farm > two miles east of Centre Hall, in his own words, near Penns Cave. Together > they had several children. Those who reached adulthood were Sylvester E. > (1881-1956); George W. (1885-1966); and Bertha (1891-1968), who married > Andrew Gregg Carper, a local auctioneer from Oak Hall, Pa. Another child, > Marion, died in November, 1894 at the age of six years. > > Elizabeth died on 24 March 1894 at the age of 38. She had been working, > apparently about the house, when she gave birth, seemingly early. The baby > had what was called "early sickness," and there was no way to administer > medicine. Both mother and child died and were buried in the same grave in > the Reformed and Lutheran Cemetery in Centre Hall, PA. > > Jacob then married Ray's mother, Jennie Olevia Hetzel, in 1896. He was 41 > and his wife was 19. Jennie had been born May 3, 1877 in Aaronsburg, Centre > Co., Pa. Her father was Michael Hetzel, a tailor of German descent. Jacob > and Jennie had several children. Viola, who married Harry Lanson Burris, and > died of uric acid poisoning at the age of twenty five in 1923; Ray, our > subject; Jacob P. Sharer; Mabelle Gertrude, later Mrs. Franklin White; and > Franklin G. Sharer. > > Our subject remembers his maternal grandmother, Mrs. Anna (Dinges) Hetzel, as > a fairly grouchy woman. She would work wherever she found a place. Ray > remembers driving his mother down to the sale at Aaronsburg, in the buggy > over snow covered roads. The snow was so wet it piled on the horses' feet. > They couldn't get the horse to run. This was probably the sale of her > household effects before she moved in with the Sharers, as is indicated by > contemporary records. > > Ray's father's property was about two miles east of Centre Hall, and the > cabin was off the road at the foot of the mountain. It was made of logs 8-10 > inches wide. While it was warm, Ray recalls that it was not big enough for > his family. Sometime after Ray married and left home (in 1919), his father > tore down the old structure. There were also sink holes in the area. > > When Ray was young, the family moved out of the small house, although it > still stood. Jacob Sharer had purchased 80 acres along the road to Penns > Cave. He built a new brick home there, completing it in 1906, according to > Ray. The house was started, but work was completed first on the barn, where > straw, hay, and wheat were stored. The family slept in the old mountain > house for about two years while the new structure was being built, so it was > probably started about 1904. Ray recalls that this occurred when he was > about five. The barn was made of wide logs notched out. A pin was driven in > to hold the logs. On the west side of the house, along the woods, Ray can > remember big logs being cut down to make room for it. This apparently took > several years, as Ray was involved in sawing the logs and selling the lumber. > The lumber company, who were apparently involved with this, had a shack up > for a barn and four to eight horses to haul the lumber. Local landowners > helped the nearby operations of lumber companies in those days. The property > was all fenced. Today, the structure is in the hands of the Amish. Ray has > nothing but good to say about the Amish, as he feels they keep the land in > its proper usage and farm it well. > > Growing up, Ray recalls that he was never sick. He didn't have any of what > was called "kid sickness," such as measles, mumps, etc. He walked a mile > (one way) across the fields each day to school, even in snow up to his knees. > The school house was two miles from Centre Hall on the road to Penns Cave. > When others had the "kid sicknesses," Ray walked it alone. He attributes his > health to plenty of hard work. When he was young, he helped clean out the > horse and cow stables. He remembers that his brother, Jake, three years his > junior, was more playful than he. Ray wanted to work and get the job done. > > His work paid off, as Ray was granted increased responsibilites by his father > as he grew older. He and his father went to a sale when he was young and saw > a three-year old horse, which he considered to be a pretty animal. His Dad > said, "What do you think?" Ray said, "I'm going to buy her." And buy her he > did. > > Ray learned to walk the horses in teams. There was a particularly old horse > that would not go on its own, but it would walk with a team. Ray's job was > to take the milk down to Centre Hall, to have it shipped from the Railroad > Station. The horse didn't want to go with the spring wagon. Ray figured out > how to make it go. Ray's Dad said, "Ray, how did you get it to go?" Ray > simply answered that he was a horseman. > > Twenty-two acres of his father's property were flat fields. When Ray was > about seven or eight, his Dad took him to learn how to harrow the fields with > horses by himself. His father had confidence in him. Jacob Sharer put Ray > on the main horse. Ray asked for the lines; his father replied that they > might get tangled up. Ray drove the horse perfectly down the harrow. The > horse would whinny when the dinner bell was rung; Ray would unhitch her, get > on her back, and ride her into the barn. > > One of Ray's most distinct memories of this work was that his father trusted > him with the horses. One advantage was that the ground was flat, and without > hills. > > A particular incident occurred when Ray was 13 years old. While plowing in > the field, a rock lifted him straight up in the air, and he had to reset the > plow. > > In his youth, Ray had no car to drive. Cars were scarce in those days, and > Ray drove horses in order to get around. > > Ray was married on Christmas Day, 1919, to Miss Laura May Reeder. She had > been born on June 26, 1901, in Centre Hall, Pennsylvania. Death deprived our > subject of his beloved wife on December 14th, 1972. She suffered a heart > attack and survived for nine days, before succumbing. Together Ray and Laura > had four children: Reeder J. Sharer, who passed away in the fall of 2000, > aged 79 years; Inez E. Sharer, who died in 1928, at the age of four; Marvin > R., who died in 1954, at the age of 27; and Marion J., who is yet living in > Centre Hall, Pa., the last surviving member of the family. > > When he was about 40 years old, Ray bid on land across the street from the > homestead farm (the sale had been turned over to the Bellefonte Trust > Company). He received 100 acres across the road. Half had already been cut > for lumber. He farmed this and on his father's land. Today the land is > covered in developments and houses. Ray sold the land for $2,000 after a few > years, in 1952. Some of the land went to Ray's sons. Part of the land > recently sold for $48,000. > > Ray was instrumental in working at the Grange Fair grounds throughout his > life. He grew up with the fair. Both Jacob and Ray were lifelong members of > Progress Grange in Centre Hall. Jacob Sharer, Ray's father, was a member of > the Fair Committee and actually bought land so he could sell it to the Fair > Association for the use of the Fair. He remembers it from its earliest days, > when his father and others would arrive in horse-drawn spring wagons. It > lasted about a week, with the lowest attendance on Mondays and Tuesdays. > Folks did not attend so often in those days, according to Ray. Horses were > tied down to posts on the fairground. Hay was tied in the back of the spring > wagons to provide feed to the horses. When he was six or seven years old, > about 1905, Ray remembers going down to take a look at the horses, all tied > up. > > In later years, Ray recalls that he was there to help set up the fair, and he > was there to help tear it down as well. He had the Fair Checkbook to > purchase things for the fair. Ray worked for the fair and also for Penn > State University. He was expert at knowing what needed to be built and how > to handle the tents. He fixed toilets. In addition, he was in charge of > turning the water on and off at the beginning and end of the far, and moving > all the benches and tables into place for the fair, and removing them when it > was over. He was also in charge of getting sheets of glan milk powder, 4 > feet by 6 feet, so people could watch the milk being poured before the truck > came in to take the oil and sell it. > > There were problems with the fair. At one point, a fire burned down two hog > barns. Some kids threw a match into one of the barns. The heat of one fire > caught the next one on fire and both burned to the ground. Flies were also a > nemesis, to the point that people from Centre Hall complained and fly killer > was sprayed around. > > After Ray quit farming on his own, he served for a while as President of the > Fair Committee. He also handled the finances. He actively began his work > for the fair at age 14, and continued until he was 80. As George McCormick > once put it, "Ray, I don't know how you figure everything out." > > His activity with the fair continued into the 21st century. In August, 2001, > at the age of 102, Ray was on hand to dedicate a new gate erected on the > fairgrounds, being the first to ride through the new gate. He was driven in > a 1948 Plymouth. It was a momentous event, and Ray enjoyed the time > afterward he spent on the fairgrounds. > > Later on, Ray built a brick home on a hill, apparently for the University. > After this, he wanted ten days off to go and tend to the fair. The > University told him, "Now Ray, stay with us steady or quit." He persuaded > them to allow him to have the time off for the fair. He returned and worked > steadily for them ever after. The fair work became too demanding, as it took > all of his time, so he quit. Today, he feels that the fair is getting > entirely too big. > > Ray was so busy with these things that his wife often told him, "You're not > home at all!" He would also help local farmers in addition to his other > tasks. At one time, he helped the late Tom Delaney of Centre Hall put new > logs in his barn. Driving tractors incessantly on the farms, Ray says, is > what ruined his hearing. He remains hard of hearing to this day. > > Ray gave up driving some years ago. He was driving along one day after > having stopped at Sears to look at Window Blinds. He blacked out at the > wheel, lost control of his vehicle, and woke up headed for a small truck. He > was encouraged to quit driving after this. He felt no pain during this > experience at all. > > After entering the nursing home, Ray found a new hobby in making flowers out > of spoons and other decorative articles. He sold some of these and donated > others to the nursing home. They beautifully adorn his surroundings. > > Ray has been a member of St. Lukes Lutheran Church in Centre Hall, PA, for > many years. He thanks God for the health that he has. He also considers his > never having smoked nor drank and that he was a hard worker to be factors in > his longevity. The fact that his father lived to be 85 years old (dying in > 1942), and his mother's attainment of the age of 77 (passing away in 1944), > have shown hereditary genes toward longevity in Ray's background. Ray's only > regret was that time has deprived him of the acquaintance of all those whom > he held dear in his youth, and he frequently expressed joy in the knowledge > that ere long, he would join them in that happy land beyond the blue. > > This transition occurred on Thursday, January 3, 2002, when the Spirit of Ray > John Sharer was carried to that happy land when pain and sorrow are no more. > He passed away at the Centre Community Hospital in College Township. On > Sunday afternoon, the 6th, after services in his church, the remains were > laid away in the Reformed and Lutheran Cemetery in Centre Hall to await the > joyous resurrection. > == > Justin > > Justin Kirk Houser > Genealogist/Researcher of Central PA and Beyond > Main Lines: Houser, Breon, Shawley, Ranio/Hrynio (and others) > President, BAHS Class of 2003 > Student Representative, BASD Board of Education > Listowner, PACENTRE-L@Rootsweb.com > Historian, Schürch Association of North America (specialty Central PA lines) > Member, Valley View United Methodist Church > "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" > > > ==== PACENTRE Mailing List ==== > Much info which has been posted on the list already may be found in the PACENTRE Archives. View them at: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl >