Bio-Miner, KathrynBurkholder

Kathryn (Miner) Burkholder
(1895-1985)

Prior to marriage, Kathryn was employed as a school teacher “in the former Springfield Township schools for five years,” said the Connellsville (PA) Daily Courier.

On Jan. 11, 1920, Kathryn married Daniel McKinley Burkholder (1900-1988), the son of James Wesley and Jenny (Hartzell) Burkholder. She was five years older than her husband.

(Daniel's sister, Rebecca Burkholder, was married to Kathryn's cousin Otis "Freed" Minerd.)

The Burkholders had three children – Helen Marie Ohler, Mildred Irene Herbert and Vivian Joan Burkholder.

Kathryn and Daniel were charter members of the Church of the Open Door in Connellsville.

Sadly, daughter Vivian Joan (1937-1957) passed away at the age of 20, in 1957, at Magee Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh, after a stay of six weeks. At the time, she was employed by Alderman J.W. Prinkey as a secretary, and was a member of the Mill Run Evangelical United Brethren Church. She was buried at the Indian Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.

Daniel worked was a coal miner and farmer. He retired from U.S. Steel Corporation’s Robena Mine, located in Carmichaels, Greene County, PA. Operated by the H.C. Frick Coke Co., it was the largest coal mine in the world at that time, and considered to be one of the most modern in the industry.

Daniel and their son in law Lewis Cecil Ohler also were laborers in the construction of Fallingwater®, the house over a waterfall designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that is considered America’s “most famous modern house.” Daniel was a general worker, and Lewis helped to quarry stone from nearby sites, also handling stonework and plumbing services.

Combination belt lines distribute coal into blending bins at U.S. Steel's Robena Mine. Coal with higher sulphur and ash content is blended with coal of lesser impurities to insure chemical uniformity needed to produce metallurgical coke.

In 1994, a photograph of Kathryn among a group of teachers at the 1912 Normal Institute was published in the book, Yesteryear in Ohiopyle and Surrounding Communities, Vol. II, compiled by author Marci Lynn McGuinness.

In 1997, Kathryn was honored at our national Minerd-Miner-Minor Reunion for her work as an educator. She is mentioned and pictured in the year’s reunion booklet, A Sense of Wonder.

In 2004, Daniel and Lewis were honored among many family members for their longtime work at Fallingwater, at our reunion in Kingwood and Mill Run, PA. Click here to view our special reunion booklet.

The Burkholders' grave at Indian Creek Baptist Cemetery

Daughter Helen Marie Burkholder married Lewis Cecil Ohler in 1940. More than 100 relatives and friends threw a "miscellaneous shower" for the couple at Kaufmann's camp, including games and lunch. The Daily Courier reported that "Mr. and Mrs. Ohler were the recipients of many beautiful and useful gifts... Mr. Ohler is employed by E.J. Kaufmann of Pittsburgh. They have gone to housekeeping in the house of Mrs. Lucinda Ohler."

Circa 1945, they made their home in Pittsburgh. Returning to Connellsville, Lewis operated a plumbing and heating business at 207 West Blake Avenue.

Daughter Mildred Irene Burkholder (1923-2011) was born on Jan. 21, 1923 in Mill Run. She married Raymond H. Herbert (1905-1981). They were 18 years apart in age.

Said the Daily Courier, Raymond "retired in 1970 as a tool and die maker for Anchor Hocking Corp. following 29 years service. More recently, he had been employed as a meter reader for the Pleasant Valley Water Authority.”

Mildred outlived her husband by three decades. She was a member of the Church of the Open Door. She died at her home in Bullskin Township near Connellsville on Nov. 5, 2011, at the age of 88. After a funeral service at the Martucci Funeral Home, she was laid to rest in the Normalville Cemetery.