Bucks
Henrietta Jahnsen, Bill Peischel
Dear Friends,
Good morning. Upper Bucks residents read two obituaries last week about two Quakertonians who were from “The Greatest Generation.” Both of them were in their 90’s. In his best seller, “The Greatest Generation,” Tom Brokaw wrote about people like Henrietta Jahnsen and William Peischel. Brokaw believed that the generation that grew up during the Great Depression and fought in World War II made America the superpower that it is today.
That generation formed the bedrock of volunteers that Robert Putnam wrote about in his book, “Bowling Alone.” Putnam suggested that America’s volunteer system was eroding because younger generations were not taking the place of the Greatest Generation volunteers because of mortality. Putnam called it wasting social capital.
Henrietta Jahnsen, 93, and William Peischel, 90, were community activists…the kind of people who Brokaw and Putnam believed made a difference.
Bill Peischel was a member of General George Patton’s Third Army, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and lived to tell the tale.
“For years, he coordinated the placement of flags and markers on veterans’ graves in Upper Bucks County,” his obituary stated.
Bill was a proponent of open space and served on the Bucks County Planning Commission and the Quakertown Area Planning Commission. He was a member of the historical societies of Quakertown, Richland, and Springfield. Bill was a native of Haycock. It was Haycock Township’s Historical Society that received most of his attention about area history.
Henrietta Jahnsen taught music in the public schools and was my favorite teacher in the Quakertown school system. She saved the day for me in first grade. Henrietta was Miss Landis when I went to school in the Central Building on Sixth Street. The Central Building and the adjacent Lincoln Building are gone. Playgrounds have taken their place.
Many of my teachers thought that I was a serious pain. My energy level was so high that I couldn’t sit still. I spent most of the first and second grades in the cloak closet because of classroom disruptions. Mother kept my report cards to remind me of my countless misadventures. I was a decent student in the three “R’s” but flunked conduct.
In my first nine grades, Edna Pfaff (Third Grade), Hazel Krauss (Sixth Grade), Martha Moyer Ebbert (Ninth Grade English), Ruth Funk (Art), and Henrietta Landis Jahnsen were the five teachers who were able to marshal my tendency to wander off the reservation.
Robert Leight writes for the Herald. An educator and friend, Bob knows more about Upper Bucks County than anyone. This is what he wrote about Henrietta Jahnsen’s passing (June 17):
“Mrs. Jahnsen lived a life of music in the public schools of Hilltown township and Quakertown, was a church organist and choir director,” Leight began. “Even in retirement in her home on Lehigh Drive in Quakertown, she was surrounded by artifacts of music. Her living room even had a grand piano [and an organ too].”
Leight wrote about her boundless energy. “Many years later, I was responsible for the program at the homecoming of the Richland Historical Society,” Leight continued. “Our main speaker was Dale Yoder, son of Poppy Yoder, a respected teacher from Hilltown Township.
“As I knew that Mrs. Jahnsen had been a music teacher in the Hilltown one-room schools, I asked her to talk about her experiences there. Before I knew it, she had organized a choir of her former students, commissioned a photographer to take photos of all the old schools in Hilltown, and ordered the construction of a stage to stand on when she directed her chorus. Nobody said “no” to Mrs. Jahnsen!”
Her niece, Mary Ellen Whyte, wrote an excellent summary of Henrietta’s life. “Mrs. Jahnsen was a music teacher and administrator in the Quakertown area school for more than 40 years, as well as an exemplary organist, choir director, pianist, genealogist, author, mentor, historian and teacher educator,” Whyte observed in her aunt’s obituary.
“She authored several books such as Ascendants and Descendants of Ephraim Rosenberger Landes and Old Durner Pipe Organs Continue to Speak. Durner organs were made in Quakertown [one block from our house].
“Foremost and for three generations, Mrs. Jahnsen inspired young people to appreciate music and motivated many to pursue a career in the profession,” Whyte wrote.
When Henrietta Landis Jahnsen (Miss Landis at the time) walked into my first grade classroom, I thought that I’d died and gone to heaven. She was blond and beautiful with high cheekbones. Henrietta always had a twinkle in her eyes, but she was stern too. We kids would do anything for her. Her presence was such a complete contrast to the drudgery that I experienced…as well as the daily doses of punishments. (To be fair, I must say that I deserved every bit of them. Seventy years later, I realize that I was the kid who was impossible.
During my high school and college days, Henrietta would listen to the Ames Brothers recordings and write the parts for my quartets to sing. Thanks to her, my quartets entered and won singing contests throughout high school and college.
Four years ago, I wrote about her in a Free Press column. This was my concluding paragraph: “I never stood still,” Henrietta told me at the time. “I never asked for a raise.” In 1939, she received $1,100 per year to teach in the Hilltown School. By the time she came to the Quakertown school system, she was paid just $1,300.
In the 1940’s through the 1960’s, American taxpayers didn’t realize the value of their public school teachers and underpaid them. Most of the teachers were women. Teaching was one of the few professions that were open to women. That economic hardship led them to organize into unions and you know what happened to public education as a result. But that’s a topic for another day.
Henrietta was a teacher who broke
away from the patterns of what music teachers were taught at the time. And we
were the beneficiaries of her knowledge and style. Henrietta was absolutely the
best. Her memorial service will be held at St. John’s Lutheran Church in
Richlandtown on Saturday at
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith
PS. As I mentioned last week, the 300th
anniversary of Quakers in Quakertown will be celebrated on September 18th
from