Biography


Biography of George Robert Zeitler (1910-1996) by john zeitler 8/09

George Robert Zeitler was born January 21, 1910 in a rented two story log house in Brady’s Bend PA. He was the youngest of nine children of Mary Theresa Bernard and Michael Zeitler jr. He would be buried 86 years later within a few miles of that house and of the graves of his parents and all four grandparents.

His paternal great grandparents (Margarethe Weiss and John Conrad Zeitler) arrived in Pennsylvania in the Fall of 1847 from Grefengehaig Bavaria, several years after three of their sons (including Michael Sr, George’s grandfather) arrived. They settled in Punsutawney, Pa

His maternal grandparents (Jane DeCorte and John Bernard) met on the ship from Belgium on their way to Brady’s Bend. He was from Alsace, France. He was 36, she was 15. Among their more than a dozen children was Mary Theresa born in 1869.When George’s father died in 1924 the family moved to a solid oak house across the road and Sugar Creek from the log house, where George was raised and his mother lived with her daughters Anne and Mae until she died in 1953 at age 93.

George quit school after the 7th grade and went to work with his brother Edward (Juno) in the local coal mine. After Juno was twice nearly killed in mine collapses, Geoge got a job at Rexhide in East Brady that manufactured tire flaps. In 1932 he bought a new Ford and the next year reconditioned it and drove it to the World Exposition in Chicago.

He inherited 289 acre farm from his uncle George.

Through Guy Bish (Rhody Hile’s boyfriend) he met Anna Marie Hile and they eloped to West Virginia. They were then married by Fr Eustace in November of 1936.When Michael was born in 1937 they moved to West Sunbury Pa and George worked in the Annadale Limestone Mine. They rented a farm. Robert (Buddy) was born there (and saved by a persistent local doctor) but died with in the year from pneumonia.John was born less than a year later in 1940. When World War II was raging, George quit his draft exempt job at the mine and went to work at Koppers chemical company in Petrolia so he would be drafted. He was and served from Feb 18, 1944 until September 19, 1945. He grade was T/5, a private in the army engineers. He drove light trucks. He was in the Madigan General Hospital in Ft Lewis Washington state from March 3, 1945 with back and kidney problems.

He returned to East Brady, bought a blue 1946 Nash four door car. (He always bought new cars, including a 1952 Nash “tub” and a 1958 Chevrolet Del Ray). In 1945 they purchased an old McClain house on E. First Street-- that was to be the family home for forty years-- for $4500 and set about improving it. He kept a cow and chickens and gardened extensively. He enjoyed listening to the Priates baseball games and training beagles and hunting deer, rabbits and squirrels. He trained beagles for more than fifty years, all descended from his first beagle in 1933. He read the newspaper daily.

Mary Anne was born in 1946 and Dennis in 1948 Joe in 1950 and Andy in 1952.

He retired from Koppers in 1975 after 32 years. After a 14 year struggle Anna Marie died of cancer in August 1976. George stayed in the house a year or so, then moved in with Buena Craig and her mother in Miller’s Eddy where he lived the rest of his life.

In spite of his lifelong tobacco habit he lived a very healthy life well into his eighties. He wasn’t hospitalized after his military duty until his death illness. He and Buena vacationed in Florida, cruised Alaska and visited his children. He preferred being at home.

He died of lung cancer in March 3, 1996 after an illness of several months. He left each of his children $10,000 and a share of the farm he inherited from his uncle.

He is buried by Anna Marie and “Buddy” in the East Brady Cemetery.
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Thursday, December 31, 2009

Rebecca's Recollections

In my apartment hangs a picture of Grandpa Zeitler. It is marked “Company D, 10th Battalion, Engineer Replacement Training Center” and dated March 1944. Written on the back is his location in the photo among the other soldiers.
But the Grandpa I remember wasn’t a soldier, or a farmer. He was the very tall man who listened to Pirates games on KDKA, an AM frequency that barely had the signal strength to get all the way up the river to his living room radio.
Most of my memories originate from that big house on the river, big family gatherings, pickles, baked beans, the glider on the porch, putting down big sheets of plastic to make water slides out of that hill – water slides that sent all of the Zeitler grandkids hurtling towards the river below at breakneck speeds. Pulling into the driveway and hearing those beagles bark and howl, the Chrysler that talked: “Your door is ajar.” The fitted pipe handrails stand out the most. I can remember what they metal felt like under my hand and thinking back now, it makes me think about the person who made them – that he cared enough about other people to ensure they had something secure to lean on.
In retrospect, there are a lot of other little things that seem kind of silly, but they are things that I associated with Grandpa – that he ate Cookie Crisp cereal, that there were always dishes of bright pink peppermint candies in the house, that every father’s day we’d give him one of those wooden whirly gig birds on a spike and he’d put it in his yard. He was always thankful for the gifts we brought him.
Sure, as a kid, I was like Dad and begrudged my own father the long trip to visit the few times each year we all made the trip as a family. And even more selfishly, I am proud of the gifts I’ve inherited thanks to my Grandpa: my height, my love of sports, and a strong work ethic (my Dad has a lot to do with those as well). Grandpa is a part of all of us, and sharing these memories will keep the spirit of one hardworking man alive.
Love,
Rebecca
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