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Howard
Marion Firestone Sr. |
Howard Marion
Firestone Sr. was born
on Feb. 22, 1894 in Broadford, near Connellsville, Fayette County, PA, the son of George
E. and Barbara (Minerd) Firestone Sr.
After the United States entered World War I, Howard enlisted in the Army. He trained at Camp Lee, VA, and was attached to Company C of the 80th Division. He went overseas to Europe in March 1918 and served there for more than a year. He and his brother Joseph are pictured in their doughboy uniforms in the book, Uniontown's Part in the World War.
When the war ended, Howard returned to Fayette County, where he worked as a brick layer at the Continental No. 3 coal mine.
On Sept. 1, 1923, at Chalk Hill, Fayette County, Howard married Pleasant Valley Thomas (1903-1984), the daughter of John H. and Mary N. (Jenkins) Thomas. They had three children -- Pleasant Valley Hickle, Donna Benson and Howard Marion Firestone Jr.
Pleasant lived at Somerfield, Somerset County, PA at the time of marriage. She later worked as a clerk and maid at the Ritz Hotel for more than a quarter century.
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Fairchance's unpaved Church Street, looking west from Main Street, from an old postcard |
The Firestones resided in Fairchance for more than 60 years. According to the Uniontown Evening News, "He was a former employee of the Duquesne Steel Co., and was last employed as a clerk at the Ritz Hotel…"
Howard was the last of 10 siblings to pass away. He died at age 84 at the Uniontown Hospital on Dec. 1, 1978, and was buried at LaFayette Memorial Park.
Pleasant outlived him by six years, and passed away on Aug. 17, 1984.
Son Howard Marion Firestone Jr. (1924-1985) married Ethel V. Haines (1927-2006). They resided at Big Six in Smithfield, Fayette County, and had three children -- Harold M. Firestone, Ethel Beeson and Howard Firestone. Howard Jr. was a coal miner and roof bolter at Buckeye Coal Company's Nemacolin Mine in the mid-1950s. He suffered a serious back injury on Nov. 22, 1955, when caught and "completely covered" in a fall of slate at the mine. He was rushed to Waynesburg Hospital and later to Pittsburgh's Mercy Hospital, where the Uniontown Morning Herald reported his condition as "fair." Co-workers Charles McKahan (fractured right leg) and Earl Helmick (uninjured) also were caught in the roof collapse. Howard Jr. passed away in August 1985. Ethel outlived him by 21 years, and died on Nov. 29, 2006. They are buried in Fairchance Cemetery.
Copyright © 2001, 2006, 2008 Mark A. Miner