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Erma
Ruth (Ream) Younkin |
Erma
Ruth (Ream) Younkin was born on Nov. 7, 1921 in Lower Turkeyfoot Twp.
Confluence, Somerset County, PA. She was the 16th and last child born to Joseph
and Sarah Ellen (Harbaugh) Ream.
Erma married Galon Glen Younkin (1925-2002), a native of Kingwood, Somerset County, and the son of Charles Milton and Grace Alma (Beachy) Younkin and grandson of William Lincoln and Margaret Ann (Nicola) Younkin of Kingwood. The groom was four years younger than the bride.
The marriage was one of more than a dozen known between Younkin and Minerd clans dating back to 1803. Click for more.
A
portrait of Erma as a young woman is seen here, date unknown.
The Younkins went on to have two sons -- Galen Younkin Jr. and Barry Lee Younkin.
During World War II, Galon served in the US Air Force. After the war ended, the Younkins moved to Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, OH.
Erma "was a member of Peoples Hope United Methodist Church in Cleveland," said the Somerset (PA) Daily American. "She was a nursing assistant at St. John's Hospital in Cleveland."
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Golden wedding anniversary of Galon's parents, Charles and Grace Younkin (seated), in 1967 at their farm near Kingwood. Standing, left to right: Galon, Ruby, Pauline, Helen and Faye. |
Galon
and Erma are seen here during the wartime era with one of their baby
sons.
The Younkins attending the annual Harbaugh Reunions and are known to have been present in 1963, 1966 and 1969 (when each of those years they received the "Furthest Traveled" award).
Heartache rocked the family in 1986 when son Barry passed away.
Galon died in Cleveland on June 3, 2002. He was age 77.
Erma
outlived her husband by nine months. She passed away at the age of 82,
also in Cleveland, on March 4, 2003.
A memorial service was held in their home church, the Old Bethel Church of God near Kingwood, Somerset County, in the spring of 2003. Burial was in the old church cemetery across the road, right at the corner of the old Jacob and Catherine (Younkin) Minerd Jr. farm dating to 1829.
Son Galen Younkin serves in a leadership capacity as an officer with the Two Rivers District of the Greater Cleveland Council, Boy Scouts of America, serving the youth of the west side of Cleveland.
Copyright © 2001-2003, 2008 Doris (Sands) Hawker and Mark A. Miner