Henry Ellis Kreider

I was born on October l8, 1924, in Campbelltown, Pa., the second child of Ethan and Esther Books Kreider. I was also the second grandchild of H.K. and Katie Kreider. I was called "Ellis" early in life and as I grew up I was known as H. Ellis Kreider.

During my teen years I spent summers working on the farms of my uncles: Herbert Kreider, John H. Kreider, and Joe Stoner. I also worked for a short time at Walker Gordon Dairy in Plainsboro, N.J. I graduated from Hershey High School in 1943, where I participated in track and wrestling. Before entering college, I found several jobs in Hershey, working briefly at the chocolate factory and also at the Hershey Greenhouse. An interesting memory from that period was helping to move palm trees and flowers to Hotel Hershey in preparation for the Governor's Conference in the mid-1940's.

I attended Lebanon Valley College for two years, and then transferred to Houghton College in New York where I received my Bachelor's degree in Biology in 1949.

Attending Palmyra Brethren in Christ Church from childhood, I've been active there throughout my life. One of my priorities has been memorizing Scripture, to which I have devoted a great deal of time and effort from youth through adulthood.

Much of my working life was spent in the real estate business, working for various companies. In 1962, I took a big step and established Kreider Real Estate in Campbelltown, managing my own business for twenty years. From 1982 until retirement in 1997, I have worked for Century 21 and Coldwell Banker.

On October 19, 1963, the day after my 39th birthday, I married Patsy Ann Hollenbeck. Our wedding was at the Bethel Community Church in Cassopolis, Michigan, Pat's home congregation. We had first met when introduced by Aunt Mary Kreider; Pat and Aunt Mary both worked in the office of the Brethren in Christ World Missions in Elizabethtown, Pa.

After our marriage, we lived in Palmyra for fourteen years, and then moved to Campbelltown in 1977 to the family home where I was born and grew up. Two sons blessed our home: Timothy Allen, born December 3, 1964, and Jonathan Pearse, born February 27, 1968. Both boys were born in the old Hershey Hospital.

I'd like to tell you about my wife, Pat. She was born on May 12, 1937 in Dowagiac, Michigan and lived on a farm until moving to Pa. in 1962. Pat graduated from Cassopolis High School in 1955, from South Bend College of Commerce in 1956 and attended Moody Bible Institute for one year. She came to Elizabethtown in July of 1962 and worked for two years as secretary to Rev. Henry Hostetter, Executive Director of the Board for World Missions. She served for eleven years as secretary of the Palmyra Brethren in Christ Church during the pastorates of Dr. C. N. Hostetter, Jr. and Rev. J. Robert Lehman. She also worked for twenty years at Hershey Foods Corporation, retiring in June, 2000.

Our son, Tim, graduated from Palmyra High School and received a Bachelor's degree in History from Shippensburg University. He lives with his wife, Wendy Ann, and son Nathan Allen in Campbelltown. He is employed at the State Library in Harrisburg. He and Wendy were married on September 22, 1995, in Winchester, Virginia. They adopted Nathan on September 15, 1999, the day he was born at the Hershey Medical Center.

Our second son, Jon, graduated from Palmyra High School and received a Bachelor's degree in International Agriculture from Eastern Mennonite University and a Master's degree in Sustainable Systems from Slippery Rock University. He lives at 1027 Schmuck Road, York, Pa. with his wife Elizabeth Ann. He is manager of Goldfinch Farm, an organic farm in York County.

Our home in Campbelltown holds a lot of history and fond memories for me. Located at 260 East Main Street (now known as 2716 Horseshoe Pike), it was built in 1920-21 by Esther Books Kreider's brothers, builders from Cleona. Ethan and Esther moved into the home as newlyweds. It was built on land that was part o the original H. K. Kreider farm. All of Ethan and Esther's children were born in this home.

Since I was still living with my parents at the time I established Kreider Real Estate in 1962, I located my office in what was originally the "back room" of the family homestead. This became my real estate office until I retired. Incidentally, this "back room" was also the room in which I was born in 1924! In 1976, when Ethan and Esther moved to Messiah Village, Pat and I purchased the Campbelltown property and did extensive remodeling. Blue aluminum siding, black shutters, new kitchen, laundry room and a half bath were added, as well as other enhancements. Howard Landis, my sister Ruth's husband, did much of the remodeling. We moved into the home in June, 1977.

In later years the main bath was remodeled, vinyl siding put on the garage, and a new furnace and replacement windows were added. We continue to live in the old homestead, facing very busy Route 322. Our lovely view of rolling hills and cornfields behind our house is fast becoming only a memory; the original farm property is becoming the new development of Stone Knoll.

Following are some highlight experiences of my life:

My early farm experiences were put to good use when I helped to take care of 800 cows on a ship going to Poland during World War II. This was a United Nations Relief Rehabilitation Project. On this trip I had my first airplane ride, flying from Danzig to Warsaw, Poland.

Through the years I have enjoyed memorable adventures with my brothers, such as caving in Schoolhouse Cave in West Virginia with Marlin, Harold and Ray.

Brother Marlin and I climbed Mt. Washington in New Hampshire with a group of students from Eastern Nazarene College on Thanksgiving Day, 1959. When a sudden snowstorm hit, we had to be rescued by the Air Force. I was active in the Susquehanna Appalachian Trail Club, and served as president for two years in the sixties, following Earl Shaffer's term as president (Earl was the first person to thru-hike the entire trail in one season). I was proud of our youngest son, Jonathan, who hiked about 1500 miles of the trail with his wife, Beth, in 1996.

I was proud to serve as best man at brother Marlin's wedding at the historic Park Street Church in Boston in June of 1977.

In 2000, our oldest son, Timothy, and a group from Messiah College, joined us for a trip to Europe. The Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany, was the highlight of the trip for me.