Revised
September
15, 2008
John
Wesley (Jack) Boyer
(1903-1976)
of Easton, Pennsylvania
The fourth child of Lew and Henrietta Boyer, John Wesley (Jack) Boyer
was born on May 7, 1903, in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Previous sections discuss Jack's parents, Lewis and Henrietta Boyer,
and other Boyer ancestors. Parallel to this section are parts
dealing with Jack's five brothers and one sister. See the Boyers of
Easton and also a Photo Gallery of the Boyers of Easton. This section
contains the following parts:
LINKS:
The
Boyers of Easton
Photo
Gallery of the Boyers of Easton
The
Boyers of Orwigsburg
Neil
Boyer's Home Page
Jack Boyer's
History
The fourth child of Lew and Henrietta Boyer, John Wesley Boyer was born
in Easton on May 7, 1903. To his parents and some of the
family, he was known as "Wesley," but to most others he was simply
"Jack."
Jack grew up on Ferry Street in Wilson Borough with the Boyer family,
but for most of his life, he lived in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania, near
Harrisburg, and was a special representative and salesman of the
Franklin Life Insurance Company. He was also active as a
layman at Baughman Memorial United Methodist Church and for many years
served as a song leader at religious and secular meetings. He
served for a time as president of the West Shore Lions Club, near
Harrisburg, and was also a member of the local Masonic Order and the
Tall Cedars of Lebanon.
Jack was a dedicated
letter writer, and family members were accustomed
to receiving correspondence on "memo" paper "from the desk of your
Franklin Life Underwriter." The following account of Jack's
heart attack in 1968, when he was 65, entitled "The First Forty
Minutes," is in his inimitable style -- elongated sentences
interspersed with dots and capital letters -- pecked out on his own
typewriter:
For
many years I have "felt" that GOD
places key persons in strategic places along life's pathway, and....it
is up to us to find them.
Recently......on
December 6, 1968......this that I have "felt" became a genuine
REALITY.......for it happened to me. It is a series of
MIRACLES.....and....only an "Unbeliever" would not admit it is "an act
of God."
Let
me tell you about this. On this day I was in my bedroom
changing
clothes when I was suddenly "struck".....with a Heart Block.
This
occurred when I was standing but when I came to my sense I was lying
across the bed and I reached for the telephone and dialed WHAT I
THOUGHT was the number of my physician....Dr. Vernon R.
Phillips......BUT..... when I asked for DR. PHILLIPS a very kind...but
still unknown to me.....lady answered my call. She must have
"sensed"
the seriousness of my plight for she hurriedly replied....."Give me
your number and I will reach the doctor for you at once."
Would that I
could now know who this person was who was an "instrument in God's
hands" in saving my life. Yes....I did NOT expect
her....BUT SHE WAS
THERE.
What
is the usual reply when one dials a wrong number? Not this
lady.....for she wanted to help. This was the first of this
series of
MIRACLES...for she reached Dr. Phillips...(who is rarely in his office
at 11:00 a.m. on FRIDAY.) BUT......HE WAS THERE. He
returned my
call....and realized it was urgent....and appeared at my home in five
minutes. After administering medication he called a
specialist...Dr.
William A. Sullivan who is rarely found at the Holy Spirit
Hospital...at that hour.....but.....HE WAS THERE.
Dr.
Phillips then called the V.F.W. AMBULANCE...where volunteers answer the
call to duty....and...THEY WERE THERE. Dr. Phillips...stood
by me and
held my hand while he prayed aloud....(Dr. Phillips is a medical
physician and not a minister.)
In
a matter of a very few minutes the men appeared to take me by ambulance
to Holy Spirit Hospital.....Through my haziness it seemed to me that
the driver was in a hurry. After Dr. Sullivan made a very
quick
examination at the Holy Spirit Hospital he issued the order: "Take him
to Harrisburg Hospital...and I will be there." By this time I
was
growing rather hazy as to the surroundings....but I was aware that the
ambulance was being driven with care...and speed...and skill.
(Even
now...I know them not.) By the time I arrived at the
Harrisburg
Hospital.....I had "gone blank"...for I was not conscious of just what
was happening and I wanted to "go to sleep."
In
the INTENSIVE CARE UNIT of the Harrisburg Hospital there are just eight
beds for cardiac patients. Dr. George Moffitt..... usually
makes the
rounds...with his "team"...rather early in the morning and then leaves
the unit. Not so on that day...HE WAS THERE.
The
MIRACLES continue for there......in that cardiac unit in INTENSIVE CARE
THERE WAS A BED FOR ME. Then...the GREAT MIRACLE...for
here...there
was a pace-maker....a PACE-MAKER FOR ME....IT WAS THERE.
Without
this...I would never have lived to write this paper...on what to me....
was surely one of the most important incidents of my life.
The
marvelous part of all of this is the fact....that it all happened in
just FORTY MINUTES from the time that I dialed that wonderful lady who
just didn't say....."wrong number"...until I had strapped to my
chest.....and function that life-saver....pace-maker.
In
those FORTY MINUTES GOD performed these many miracles for me and I am
very grateful....and thankful.....for all the persons who were "in the
right place at the right time" and unknowingly participated in these
FIRST FORTY MINUTES....which very well could have been my LAST FORTY
MINUTES.
Let
it be known by all that just too much good cannot be said for the
attention........the care......the concentrated interest....the
untiring effort that is shown by all those who serve in an INTENSIVE
CARE UNIT.....for it is just that......INTENSIVE CARE FOR ALL PATIENTS.
|
Jack was married on
January 28, 1929, to Carrie
Snyder, who had been
born exactly 29 years earlier, on January 28, 1900. Carrie
worked for the Department of Labor and Industry, part of the government
of Pennsylvania, in Harrisburg. They had no children.
The fun-loving Boyer clan liked to recall the time Jack first took
Carrie home to meet the family. Seated at the round table
that accommodated the entire large gang, one of Jack's brothers offered
to pass the bread, and to Jack's embarrassment he dealt the bread
slices like cards, flinging them across the table to each other
person. Jack and Carrie were the target of another
Boyer "joke" during one large family outing at Ruth's beach house in
Ocean City, New Jersey. Unknown to Jack and Carrie, a vacuum
cleaner had been placed under their bed, with the electric cord
stretching out the door to the next room. After they retired
for the night, following a suitable interval during which they might
have gone to sleep, one Boyer humorist plugged in the vacuum, leading
both Jack and Carrie to sit bolt upright in shock! Jack was
also a notable pipe smoker, and was rarely seen – in or out
of photographs -- without a pipe in his hand or mouth.
In May of 1937, Jack,
fancying himself a poet, wrote a long poem (Dear
Mom”) for his mother on Mother’s Day, recalling
events in her life and the coming of her seven children.
It’s hard to tell from the rather maudlin tone of this poem,
but Henrietta was only 63, and she lived 11 more years. This
poem was presented just a few months before the wedding of Ruth and
Jim, the last of Henrietta’s children to be
married. Part of the poem went like this:
She’s
getting
older now, I see.
She’s not so full of pep
Or
Vim or Vigor or
Vitality.
She hasn’t got that step.
She
sits and thinks and
dreams a lot,
‘Bout Sis and all the Boys.
Her
mem’ry is
‘bout all she’s got.
It’s the source of all her joys.
She
thinks of Art and
David, too.
She wonders how they are.
She
thinks of what they
used to do.
She does this hour by hour.
There’s
Elwood, too, and Ralph, you know.
Where is he now? And where did he go?
Then
off she goes, in
dreams, you see…..
To think of Walt and sometimes me.
She’s
got six
daughters, we allow.
They’ve come through marriage – that’s
the how.
Six
daughters, yes, but
only one….
Her very own is RUTH alone.
Now
she’s
about to “make it two,”
Sometime in June she’ll see it through.
She
tied up fingers and
sore toes,
And put your arm in a sling.
She
chased the pain that
with them goes.
She did ‘most everything.
When
problems were
beyond your weight
As into youth you grew,
She
always pointed out
the right
And told you what to do.
Then
when
‘twas time to take a mate
Her counsel you did seek.
Her
answer she would
clearly state,
Though, somehow, it was weak.
She
knew that you were
leaving there.
You two, to go alone.
She
knew that you were
leaving her.
She knew her work was done.
But
can’t you
see her now, I say?
Her face, ‘twas wreathed in smiles.
She
made you glad, it
was her way
Of easing life’s long miles.
|
Jack’s wife
Carrie died at their home at 380 Walton Street in
Lemoyne on November 2, 1971, at the age of 71. On May 6,
1972, Jack married Martha
Barner, daughter of John and Nellie Barner of
Williamsport, Pennsylvania. She had been born on January 4,
1910. At the time of their marriage, Martha was 62 and Jack
was one day short of his 69th birthday.
Jack died of heart disease in Harrisburg on January 2, 1976, at the age
of 72, and he was buried in Harrisburg on January 6, 1976.
His nephew, the Rev. Robert Stokes, was one of the two officiating
clergymen. Martha later was married to Carl Young, and they
lived in Bethany Village, near Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
Martha died there on July 3, 2006, at the age of 96. Her
husband of 22 years, Carl Young, was still living at Bethany Village.
LINKS:
The
Boyers of Easton
Photo
Gallery of the Boyers of Easton
The
Boyers of Orwigsburg
Neil
Boyer's Home Page
Back to the Top of
this Page
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