Alice
(Younkin) Gary
(1910-1995)
Alice
B. (Younkin) Gary was born on April 19, 1910 in Rockwood, Somerset County,
PA, the daughter of Daniel M. and Susan (Swick)
Younkin.
Alice grew up in a family with half-sisters and a half-brother who were several decades older than she.
When she was age eight, during World War I, Alice and her parents received the heart-breaking news that her half brother William Alvin Mongold had been killed in military action in France as a member of the American Expeditionary Forces. Under the terms of his life insurance policy, Alice and half sister Grace (Mongold) Judy were to receive a benefit payment of $190.55 each. When the matter became complicated by the fact that the soldier's estate was being administered in his native Grant County, WV, Roscoe B. Shanks, cashier of the Farmers' & Merchants Bank of Rockwood, was named as Alice's guardian in the matter.
When
Alice was 10, in the late summer of 1920, her parents took her to the Minerd
Reunion. It was held at the Ferncliff Hotel in Ohiopyle, Fayette County. Young
Alice is seen here that day with Norman C. Gary, the young son of Jacob
and Minnie (Miner) Gary. The Garys also were kinsmen of Alice's future husband.
On July 26, 1928, when she was 18, Alice married laborer Silas Gary (1908-1979). He was a Rockwood native and the son of Jonas and Lucinda (Lyons) Gary. Rev. Walter F. Berkebile performed the ceremony.
The Garys had two children – Robert D. Gary and Betty Herchelroath.
In the early 1930s, Alice’s aged father moved into the Gary residence in Somerset. He died there in February 1935. Just a few months before Daniel's death, in October 1934, Otto Roosevelt Younkin came to their home to interview the elderly man about family history. With Alice sitting by, Daniel provided valuable information about his father, grandfather and cousins that otherwise would be lost to history. A copy of Otto's notes today are in the Minerd-Miner-Minor Archives.
The Garys later moved to Erie, Erie County, PA. They were members of the Church of the Brethren in Erie. Silas was a security officer with Daub Associates in Erie. Alice worked as a custodian in the Millcreek Township Schools.
|
| State Street in Erie in the 1940s, from an old postcard |
In July 1978, the Garys celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
The following summer, Silas passed away, on July 7, 1979.
Alice outlived her husband by 16 years, and died on Dec. 2, 1995. They are buried at Erie County Memorial Garden Park.
Copyright © 2002, 2005, 2008 Mark A. Miner