Bio-Harbaugh, OakeyDavid

Oakey David Harbaugh
(1894-1975) and
Annie "Gertrude" Shroyer
(1897-1978)

On Valentine's Day 1917, Oakey married Annie "Gertrude" Shroyer (1897-1978). She was a native of Clay Run, Fayette County, the daughter of Jacob A. and Laura Belle (Younkin) Shroyer. They were married for more than a quarter-century -- nearly 58 years, to be exact.

The Harbaughs had five children – Evelyn Morgan, Lester D. Harbaugh, Wilma "Gladys" Kellner, Laura Elizabeth "Betty" Lafferty and Norma Liston. They are seen at right with Evelyn, Lester and baby Gladys.

They were members of the Indian Head Church of God, where Gertrude was a member of the Ladies Bible Class.

The Harbaughs enjoyed attending the annual Harbaugh Reunions, beginning in the inaugural year of 1926. Their involvement continued over a span of more than four decades. From 1969 to 1973, Oakey won the annual reunion award as the "Oldest Man Present." Over that same timespan, he and Gertrude captured the yearly award for "Couple Married Longest."

Oakey worked for 12 years at the Mill Run country estate of Pittsburgh department store owner Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. Kaufmann is best known for his landmark house, Fallingwater (seen here) designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built over a waterfall, considered the most famous modern house in America. Oakey and Gertrude resided on the Kaufmann property circa 1956, in a two-story frame house next to the large Kaufmann barn where Oakey labored along what is now Route 381.

During World War II, when he was age 47, Oakey registered for the military draft. He stated his employer as "self" and that his mailing address was Mill Run. He stood five feet, nine inches tall, and weighed 135 lbs., with grey eyes, brown hair and a ruddy complexion.

Gertrude was an article contributor to the Younkin Family News Bulletin, a national and unique family newspaper published between 1934 and 1941, and edited by her cousin, Charles Arthur Younkin.

Kaufmann house and barn where the Harbaughs lived and worked near Mill Run

A 1938 edition of the News Bulletin carried an article headlined "Five Living Generations – Is There Another?" The piece highlighted the birth of Oakey and Gertrude’s new grandson, Galen W. Morgan. On Gertrude’s side of the family, the baby was a fifth generation of living relatives. Said the article, "This great family group can boast of at least one, very few persons regardless of age, have known of the fifth generation ‘to live,' and be a part of it is a proud heritage."

In December 1934, Oakey and his brothers in law Kenneth and William Shroyer won civil lawsuits against C.B. Moore in wages for labor they had performed for Moore. The case was heard by cousin William Henry "Squire" Miner, a justice of the peace in Mill Run. Oakey's award was for $38.50, and Kenneth's for $25.00. William's amount was not recorded.

In 1972, the Harbaughs celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary. The color image seen here shows them with their three-tiered anniversary cake.

Sadly, Oakey passed away on Jan. 26, 1975, at the age of 80, at Somerset Community Hospital. He was buried at the Indian Creek Baptist Cemetery in Mill Run, Fayette County, where many generations of his ancestors are at final rest.

Gertrude survived him by three years. She moved to Franklin, Venango County, PA, where she passed away on Jan. 24, 1978.

Oakey and Gertrude are mentioned in a highly praised 2003 book by Franklin W. Toker, entitled Fallingwater Rising. It was published by the prestigious New York house of Alfred A. Knopf. (Click to read more about the book along with short reviews by the New York Times and Washington Post, among others.)

Daughter Evelyn Harbaugh (1917-1998) married Lloyd J. Morgan (1909-1974). She was a secretary for the Rockwood office of Clapper's Building Materials. Said the Somerset Daily American, "He was a member of the United Methodist Church of Rockwood, the Rockwood Rotary Club, [and] he also managed the Clapper Building Materials in Rockwood since 1957."

Son Lester Harbaugh (1919-1987) married Margaret Brooks (1919-1997), the daughter of Braden and Margaret (Miller) Brooks. The Harbaughs made their residence in Normalville and went on to have a family of four children -- Vivian Biler, Sandra Tressler, Larry Harbaugh and Rodney Harbaugh. Lester “was a self-employed farmer and carpenter for the building and trade union,” said the Somerset Daily American. "He was a veteran of the U.S. Army in World War II and a member of the Mill Run Grange." During the war, his movements were published in a hometown newsletter, The Messenger, edited by a distant cousin, Ferne (Minerd) Work. In June 1945, the Messenger noted that "Mrs. Lester Harbaugh spent 10 days with her husband at Camp Blanding, Fla. Lester has recently been transferred to Fort Belvoir, Va." Another Messenger article in February 1946 said that "Earl Friend and Lester Harbaugh are both in the Pacific in the Philippines, I believe. They are just two miles apart and have visited each other." In March 1946, it reported that "We hear Lester Harbaugh is going to get home, soon." They are mentioned in the 1975 book, Brooks Family History. Lester passed away in 1987 at the age of 78. Margaret outlived him by a decade. She died at the age of 78 in 1997.

Daughter Gladys Harbaugh married Samuel Robert Kellner. They were owners of Kellner’s Fireworks,, founded in 1947 and operating in Harrisville, Butler County, PA. Today the family business is run by their son Robert Kellner. Kellner's Fireworks is serving as a corporate sponsor of our 2008 national reunion celebrating "Pittsburgh 250."

Daughter Norma Harbaugh married Ora Liston, a carpenter and farmer. When they celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary in 1992, the Listons were profiled in the Connellsville Daily Courier. The article later was reprinted in the Younkin Family News Bulletin.

Daughter Laura Elizabeth "Betty" Harbaugh (1926-2003) married Robert Lee Lafferty (1923-2003), seen here, the son of Charles Albert and Elnora (Saylor) Lafferty. They were married for 41 years, and had no children. They were longtime members of the Mill Run United Methodist Church. Betty worked for many years at Anchor Hocking Glass in Connellsville, Fayette County. Robert worked for Dick Sparks Sawmill early in life, and later was a truck driver and laborer for Springfield Township in Fayette County, a position from which he retired. They hosted a visit from the founder of this website in the fall of 1992. Betty passed away at the age of 76 at the Eicher Personal Care home in Normalville, Fayette County, on Feb. 13, 2003. Robert followed her into eternity eight months later, at the age of 80, on Nov. 8, 2003. They were laid to rest in the Husband Cemetery in Somerset, Somerset County, PA.

Great-grandson Erick M. Foster (seen here), 29, a captain and paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, died Aug. 28, 2007 of combat injuries sustained during an enemy attack using small arms fire in Muqdadiyah, Iraq. He was the troop commander of A Troop, First Squad, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. He was a native of Wexford, near Pittsburgh, PA, and graduated from Duquesne University in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in information systems management. Erick had one previous combat deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2004 to 2005. Click here for the Army’s official announcement, a related story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and a KSDK-TV feature in St. Louis about a special tribute made by his sister Elizabeth. Tragically, Erick is now one of more than 30 known cousins of the Minerd-Minard-Miner-Minor family to make the ultimate sacrifice by giving their lives in military service during wartime. Kellner's Fireworks organized a huge fireworks exhibition on Aug. 22, 2008 in Oil City, Pa in memory of Erick and as a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project. Visit the Capt. Erick M Foster Memorial Fireworks Exhibition website.

In a moving ceremony at our 2008 reunion celebrating "Pittsburgh 250," Gladys (Harbaugh) Kellner and her family unveil a portrait of her grandson, Capt. Erick M. Foster, who lost his life in military service in Iraq. Assisting is reunion president Mark Miner.