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Harry
Oliver Minerd Sr. |
Harry
Oliver Minerd Sr. was born on April 12, 1893 at Bridgeport near Mt.
Pleasant, Westmoreland County, PA, the son of Charles
Marion and Sabina (Pierce) Minerd.
Harry (left) and Ralph
Seen here, Harry stands with his younger brother Ralph in an early childhood portrait.
Harry and his brothers Will and Ralph were baseball players in the coal mining company leagues around Mt. Pleasant. He is known to have played for the Buckeye team in 1910. Box scores of some of his games were published in the Connellsville (PA) Daily Courier and are preserved today in the Minerd Minard Miner Minor Archives.
Harry was united in the holy bonds of matrimony with Mazie Rumbaugh (1893-1952), a native of Mt. Pleasant and the daughter of Frank and Mary C. (Hoke) Rumbaugh.
They produced two children, Catherine Myers and Harry Oliver Minerd Jr. and adopted two others -- Gladys Kelley and their nephew Frank Brown.
In 1916, the Minerds resided at Keister,
near Uniontown, Fayette County. That year, they became aware that an infant
girl, Gladys Kelley, daughter of Louis and Gladys Kelley, needed foster care.
They took in the baby and then sued to adopt the baby, which was approved by the
Fayette County Court of Common Pleas on Oct. 27, 1916. The fate of the little
girl is unknown, though it's suspected that she died young.
Baseball box score
Harry registered for the World War I military draft in 1918, and stated his occupation as track layer for the Lincoln Coal and Coke Company of Waltersburg, Fayette County. In all, he worked in the coal industry for 28 years.
When the U.S. census was enumerated in 1920, the Minerds made their home in Monongahela, Greene County, PA. They kept a number of boarders in their residence, including Mazie's sister Daisy Lowther and daughter Elinor Lowther; nephew Frank Brown; and Jake Rumberg, Homer Pangerbreg, Thomas McDonna (McDonough?) and Cris Lape. That year, Harry's employment was listed as "clerk in office - coal works" of the Pittsburgh Steel Company, while their boarders were miners, teamsters and laborers at the mine.
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| Banning Mine, showing innovative coal cutting technology of the era, as published in a penny postcard of the time |
The Minerds are known to have resided in Van
Meter, Rostraver Township, Westmoreland County, circa 1927 when son Harry was
born. When the federal census was taken in 1930, Harry, Mazie and their children
made their home in Rostraver, with nephew Frank Brown and widowed, 58-year-old
father Charles Minerd living under their roof. Both Harry and his father both
are marked as working as coal mine laborers that year. Their employer was the Pittsburgh Coal
Company at its Banning Mine. Later, the Minerds resided at Bridgeport, where he
was employed
at another local mine.
Greenlick Cemetery
At age 45, Harry was stricken by thyroid illness, heart failure and a goiter known as Graves' Disease. He died at Connellsville State Hospital on Oct. 21, 1938. He was buried at Greenlick Cemetery. Pallbearers were George Smith, Charles Rhome, Edward Smitley, Emory Jones, Kenneth Seaman and Robert Hare.
Mazie spent 14 years as a
widow, making her home at 24 Cherry Avenue in Mt. Pleasant. She suffered an
accidental tall at some point, leading her health to begin to decline, and she
was admitted to Baum's Rest Home in rural Unity Township. Afflicted with a bowel
obstruction caused by an intestinal fistula, she
passed away on Nov. 29, 1952, at the age of 59. She is buried beside her husband.
~ Son Harry Oliver Minerd Jr. ~
Son Harry Oliver Minerd Jr. (1927-1982) was born in 1927.
He married at least twice, and possibly a third time. His first wife was Geraldine Hendricks ( ? - ? ). They divorced due to "indignities" in December 1958 by decree of the Fayette County Court of Common Pleas.
In young manhood he was a mill worker.
Harry then married 33-year-old widow Margaret Louise (Jamieson) Drumm, the daughter of Charles McCormick and Mabel (Stillwagon) Jamieson, in 1959. She was a factory worker in Connellsville. They divorced in Sacramento, CA in June 1976.
Harry later wed Hazel (Eutsey) Burkholder (1920-2002), the daughter of Reid and Anna (Shaffer) Eutsey and the widow of John "Wesley" Burkholder of the family of James "Wesley" and Harriet (Firestone) Burkholder. Hazel brought these stepchildren to the marriage -- John Wesley Burkholder Jr., William Wesley Burkholder, Thomas E. Burkholder, Barry Duane Burkholder and Deana Fromm.
They bore one son of their own, Harry Oliver Minerd III. The family resided in California, in Elverta, Sacramento County circa 1977. They separated in 1977 and divorced in May 1981.
Harry is believed to have died in Sacramento on June 6, 1982, at the age of 55.
Hazel outlived her husband by two decades. Moving to Pahrump, Nye County, NV in about 1996, to be near her married daughter, she was active in the local senior center. She died in Pahrump on Aug. 1, 2002, at the age of 82. She was survived by 20 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren, said the Pahrump Valley Times.
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| The famed Strip in Las Vegas |
Stepson John Wesley Burkholder Jr. ( ? - ? )
Stepson Barry Duane Burkholder, who graduated from Southmoreland High School near Greensburg, Westmoreland County, PA, was a driver for System 99 Freight Lines in Las Vegas. He married Belinda Jean Herbert of Dawson, Fayette County, in a ceremony in the Little Church of the West Chapel in Las Vegas in February 1977.
Stepson William Wesley Burkholder made his home in Pennsylvania in 2002.
Stepson Thomas E. Burkholder ( ? - ? )
Stepdaughter Deana
Burkholder wed Mark Fromm and resided in Pahrump.
~ Daughter Catherine Marie (Minerd) Myers ~
Daughter Catherine
Minerd (1924-2000) was born on Jan. 15, 1924 at Alicia, PA.
Catherine Myers
She married Clarence J. "Banjo Picker" Myers Sr. (Dec. 5, 1929-2006).
They
resided in Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County, PA and later in Chambersburg, Franklin County, PA.
They bore five known children -- George Calvin Myers, Barry Wayne Myers, Marjeanne Patrick, Cathy Sheely and Clarence J. Myers Jr.
Catherine's final residence was in Newburg, PA.
At the age of 76, Catherine died on May 11, 2000 in Shippensburg Health Care Center. Funeral rites were led by Rev. Keith Solomon, with interment in Fairview Cemetery, Kecksburg.
Clarence outlived her by six years. He passed away in Roanoke, VA on Jan. 24, 2006, at the age of 77.
Son George Calvin Myers ( ? - ? ) was deceased by 1984.
Son Barry Wayne Myers (1952-1984) was born on Sept. 6, 1952 in Mount Pleasant. He married Helen Huffman (1951-2017), daughter of Russell Huffman and Phyllis (Shaw) Fisher. Together, they produced two children -- Jessica Kaczmarczyk and Matthew Myers. They resided in Nemacolin, Washington County, PA, where Barry worked for LH&J Coal Company. He belonged to the United Mine Workers of America and ABATE of Pennsylvania (Alliance of Bikers Aimed Toward Education). Sadly, Barry died at the age of 31 on July 21, 1984. Funeral services were conducted at Norvelt, Westmoreland County. Helen survived her husband by 33 years and wed again to Rev. Albert Earl Moore Jr. (1930-1990) and on Sept. 28, 1996 to Kenneth Allen Boord (Aug. 13, 1937-2017). Said an obituary, Helen "was an active member of First Baptist Church in Carmichaels where, over the years, was a Sunday school teacher, assisted in vacation bible school and served as the president of the Women on Mission and as church treasurer. She loved the Lord and lived her life for Him. In the late 1980's, Helen volunteered for the Salvation Army and the Corner Cupboard Food Bank in Waynesburg..." Death spirited her away in Uniontown Hospital at the age of 65 on June 10, 2017. The funeral was conducted by Rev. Charles H. Sowden in the First Baptist Church of Carmichaels.
- Granddaughter Jessica Myers wed (?) Kaczmarczyk. She dwelled in Nemacolin, PA in 2017.
- Grandson Matthew Myers has been a longtime companion of Morgan Riley. The pair dwell in Nemacolin, PA.
Daughter Marjeanne Myers ( ? - ? ) wed Robert P. Patrick. Her home in 1984 was in Latrobe, PA. Sadly, Robert was deceased by 2000. The widowed Marjeanne made her dwelling-place in 2000 in Blairsville, PA.
Daughter Cathy Myers ( ? - ? ) was joined in wedlock with Thomas Sheely. As of 1984, they had settled in Newburg, PA.
Son Clarence Myers Jr. ( ? - ? ) relocated to Monroe, NC. By 2000, he was married to Cindy and was living in Shermans Dale, PA.
Copyright © 2001, 2005, 2010, 2022, 2024 Mark A. Miner