Obituaries N to R
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Newlin, Margaret Rudd: 1/1/2005
Margaret Rudd Newlin, 79, of Secane, retired English professor and poet, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease Jan. 1 at Crosslands Retirement Community in Kennett Square.
Dr. Newlin published six volumes of poetry, including The Collected Poems, 1963 to 1986. Her 1976 work, Snow Falls Upward, was nominated for a National Book Award. In 1990, her poem “Rain” was included in Art and Love: an Illustrated Anthology of Love Poetry, published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A native of New York City, she earned a bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College and a doctorate in English literature from Reading College in England. In 1956 she was married to Nicholas Newlin, head of the English department at Washington College in Chestertown MD, where she taught English literature. The couple retired to Shipley Farm in Secane in 1973, where they had previously summered. The property had been in Nicholas Newlin’s family since 1725. Their son Robert said his mother was passionate about animals. Nicholas Newlin died in 1976. Dr. Newlin also is survived by sons James, David and Thomas; and four grandchildren. The funeral service and burial were private.
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Pyle, Hannah [Kirk]: 3/16/2006
Hannah Kirk Pyle, 87, of Kennett Square, died Thursday, March 16, 2006, at Kendal at Longwood, Kennett Square.
She was the wife of G. Martin Pyle, whom she married in 1943. Born in Newtown Square, she was the youngest of 13 children to the late Samuel and Katie Bond Kirk. Mrs. Pyle was a 1937 graduate of Marple-Newtown High School and Pierce College of Business, Philadelphia. She was a lifelong member of Willistown Friends Meeting, Newtown Square. In addition to her husband, she is survived by two daughters, Marilynn Pyle Johnson and her husband Kent, and Cynthia Pyle Dixon and her husband Mark; she was the beloved grandmother of Lauren Johnson, Kaitlynn Johnson, Kent Johnson Jr., Abigail Dixon and Rachel Dixon. A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 19, at Willistown Friends Cemetery, with a memorial service following at 2 p.m. at the adjoining Willistown Friends Meeting, 7069 Goshen Road, Newtown Square. Memorial gifts may be made to Willistown Friends Meeting. Arrangements are being handled by DellaVecchia, Reilly, Smith & Boyd Funeral Home Inc., West Chester, 610-696-1181,
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Reynolds, Ira Howard: 2/14/1892
Ira H. Reynolds, 54, native of Cochranville where he lived up until four years ago, died suddenly Monday at Canton, Bradford county, Pa, of a heart attack.
Funeral services will be held Friday aftenoon at two o’clock at the Wentz funeral home, Atglen, with interment in Faggs Manor Presbyterian cemetery. Friends ar invoted to call at the funeral home Thursday evening.
A son of the late Hannah Lambron and Lewis Reynolds, he is survived by his wife, Helen Franklin Reynolds and three children, Wilma, Irene and RObert, all st home. Surviving brothers and sisters, Harvey Reynolds, Berwyn; Lewis Reynolds, Ship Road; Israel Reynolds, Cochranville; and Lena, wife of Edward Stanley, Atglen.
Reynolds was a veteran of World War I and was a member of Canton Legion Post, and Cochranville Methodist church.
Reynolds, Isaac Gregg: 11/10/1943
In the Chester County Hospital at 5:30 o’clock last evening, Isaac G. Reynolds, of Church Street and College avenue, passed away following a heart attack, which he had suffered on Tuesday night. He had suffered from a heart condition for several years, but his death came as a shock to his many friends and relatives. He was in the 80th year of his age.
Mr. Reynolds was born at Peach Bottom, Lancaster County, but had spend most of his life in West Chester. He was a son of the late David M. and Amanda G. Reynolds.
In his early life, he was associatied in the jewelry business in West Chester with a Mr. Hill, and later traveled for a jewelry firm in Detroit, Mich.
In connection with his brother-in-law, Charles M.. McFarland1 This was Charles Tatman Reynolds, middle initial should be T not M, he established the West Chester Laundry a number of years ago, which they conducted successfully, later selling to Plummer E. Jefferis, it now being conducted by the Jefferis Brothers.
He was a member of the Society of Friends, and a member of the Board of Managers of the Friends Home on North Walnut Street. Through his oversight largely the Hickman House was built, following the receipt of the legacy from the late Nathaniel G. Hickman. He was also a member of the West Chester Club and a trustee of the Dime Savings Bank.
Mr. Reynolds married Elizabeth G.2 Elizabeth Watt McFarland – middle initial is W not G.., daughter of the late David M. McFarland, who survives, with three children: Mary R., wife of John R. Bingaman, of Reading; Gregg D., of Reading, and Elwood M[Elwood Webster Reynolds, middle initial was W not M[/mfn]., of Westfield, N.J. There are five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.3 Daily LocalNew, West Chester, 11/1/943
Reynolds, Isabel [Fulton]: 1/27/1940
Isabel Fulton Reynolds, 90, a resident of the Hickman Boarding Home in West Chester for several years, died today. Mrs. Reynolds, widow of Albert Reynolds, had previously lived on a farm in Highland township. She was a member of the Fallowfield Friends Meeting at Ercildoun and the Doe Run Farmers Club.
Survivors include four daughters, Mrs. Margaret Bown of Dettendorf, Iowa; Mrs. Esther Sturgeon of West CHester; Miss Bertha Reynolds of West CHester and Miss Edna Reynolds, of Kennett Square.
The body is to be given to the Pennsylvania Anatomical Society and no funeral services will be held.4 Local Daily News, 1/27/1940
Reynolds, Israel C.: 1/17/1856
Israel C. Reynolds, aged fifty-nine years, Cochranvile, died suddenly Tuesday night, January 17, of a heart attack while visiting at the home of friends in Cochranville. He had been under a physician’s care.
Born near Cochranville, a son of the late Louis B. and Hannah Lamborn Reynolds, he was a member of Cochranville fire company and was a farmer by occupation.
Surviving are his wife, Sophia Wasson Reynolds; two daughters, Mary Elizabeth, wife of Richard L. Ernst, West Palm Beach, Fla.; and Patricia M., wife of Ephraim B. Fornoff, New Holland; a son, William L. Reynolds, at home; two granddaughters; and two brothers, Harvey Reynolds, Paoli; and Lewis Reynolds, Cochranville.
Funeral services were held Saturday afternoon from Wilde Funeral Home, Main Street, with Rev. Roy Eshelman of Atglen in charge.
Friday a steady stream of sorrowing friends and relatives called at the funeral home to pay their final respects to their friend and neighbor of many years, including members of Cochranville Fire Co., of which the deceased was a member. There were many lovely floral pieces and baskets surrounding the casket and room in an unusual display.
Interment was made in Cochranville M. E cemetery.
Pallbearers were Paul Reynolds, Norman Spencer, Frank Hart, Lyle Armstrong, Lloyd Murphy, Harvey Mellin.
Righter, John & Captain Jacob Vance
DIED, – On Thursday last, Capt. Jacob Vance, in the prime of life, after some weeks emaciating sickness, leaving a widow and six young children, to lament his death. On the same day, suddenly, Mr. John Righter, at a mere advanced stage of life, leaving a widow and a large number of children – from the wedding of one of whom, (a son) he had jjust returned, when he received the fatal messenger. These gentlemen were both innkeepers – lived in the same township – on the same road (the Harrisburg turnpike) about three miles apart – died the same day, were buried on the same day, the first at Brandywine the latter at Uwchlan, and their funerals past each other on the road. 5 American Republican Newspaper, 2/23/1915
Robinson, Robert W.: 7/3/2007
Robert W. Robinson Sr., 76, of Cochranville, passed away at the Chester County Hospital in West Chester on Tuesday, July 3, 2007.
He was the beloved husband of Shirley A. Howard Robinson.
Born in Marcus Hook, Bob was the son of the late William E. Robinson and Alice Fausnaught Robinson.
He proudly served in the U.S. Navy from 1949 to 1950.
He was employed at Sun Oil in Marcus Hook for 36 years, retiring in 1986 as a foreman.
Bob served as past fire chief of Reliance Fire Company.
After his retirement, he enjoyed woodworking and gardening, and he especially enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
He is survived, in addition to his wife, by three children, Robert W. Robinson Jr. of Cochranville, Cindy M. Chaires, wife of Kenneth of Cochranville, and Allen E. Robinson, husband of Shirley A. of Parkesburg; seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; and two siblings, Lawrence W. Robinson of Aston and Nancy J. Mullins of Poole, England.
Robert was preceded in death by his daughter, Marjorie Simcox, who passed away in 1997.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, July 9, at the Wilde Funeral Home, 434 Main St., Parkesburg, followed by interment in the Mount Hope Cemetery, Aston.
Family and friends are also invited to attend the viewing from 10 a.m. to the time of the service Monday at the funeral home.
Rodebaugh, Everett G.: 7/1983
Everett G. Rodebaugh, 81, who founded a court-reporting service in Philadelphia and was a nationally prominent court reporter, died Monday at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He lived at Welkinweir, a 162- acre estate in East Nantmeal Township, Chester County.
President of Court Reporters Inc. and Shorthand Service Inc., he directed for 54 years the staffs in recording trial testimony, governmental hearings, contract negotiations and arbitration sessions throughout the Philadelphia area.
His reporters also took down every word in meetings of shareholders of companies such as General Motors, the Sun Co., Du Pont Co., UGI and Arco.
They also recorded meetings of a number of private organizations such as the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
The work permitted Mr. Rodebaugh to live well and to pursue his interests, which included environmental matters, historical restoration and preservation, collecting books and antiques, music, horticulture, conservation, travel and photography.
Mr. Rodebaugh was the first president of the Green Valleys Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania and subsequently was named the organization’s ”permanent honorary president.”
Past chairman of the Chester County Water Resources Authority, he was a past president of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.
He was a founder of the Countrymen’s Club, a member of the Quaker City Farmers’ Club, and was active in the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture and the Men’s Garden Club of the Delaware Valley.
His travels took him around the world 15 times and furnished background for his writing.
His articles appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, the American Bar Association Journal, the Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly, the Practical Lawyer, Case & Comment.
He was active in a number of organizations in the field. He was past chairman of the Conference of United States Court Reporters and past president of the National Shorthand Reporters Association.
An accomplished raconteur, Mr. Rodebaugh was well known as a host and his estate became a major social center over the years.
In November 1976, Mr. Rodebaugh and his wife, Grace Haspel Rodebaugh, gave their estate – a 100-acre arboretum, 50 acres of landscaped lawn, a six-acre lake and a half-dozen ponds scattered through surrounding hills – to West Chester State College.
The gift was conditioned on life tenancy for the couple. However, the legislature in 1979 cut funding for the estate’s maintenance. As a result, the Rodebaughs then presented the estate to the University of Pennsylvania for a conference center.
Mr. Rodebaugh, a 1922 graduate of Penn, was pleased by the shift. Based on a large gift to Penn, a new medical facility on Penn’s campus was dedicated last year as the Grace and Everett Rodebaugh Clinical Center for Diabetes Research and Education.
The Rodebaughs’ life at Welkinweir was clouded by a robbery there Feb. 29, 1980. Their home, part of which dates to 1750, was invaded by two thieves, a guest was injured, and a collection of silver valued at $250,000 stolen. Subsequently, a house guest, Amy Marlene Darow, pleaded no contest to charges in connection with her involvement in a conspiracy with another woman and a man to rob the Rodebaughs.
Mr. Rodebaugh is survived by his wife and two sisters.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at the Nantmeal United Methodist Church, Nantmeal Village.6 Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/27/1983
Rothrock, Addison M.: 6/24/1971
Dr. Addison M. Rothrock
Word has been received here of the death June 24 of Dr. Addison M. Rothrock, a West Chester High School graduate with many ties to Chester county. He was 68.
Retired associate director of plans and programs for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, he died at Circle Terrace Hospital, Alexandria, Va., after a heart attack. He was a son of the late Dr. and Mrs. Harry A. Rothrock.
Dr. Rothrock was credited with contributing to significant advances in technology for aircraft and rocket engines during his 45 years as a propulsion research scientist and administrator.
After his 1921 graduation from West Chester, he went to Penn State University and in 1926, joined the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, NASA’s predecessor.
After retiring in 1963, Dr. Rothrock became a professor of applied science for five years at George Washington University. He served on many high-level advisory committees and was a member of several scientific societies.
Surviving are his wife, Elizabeth Bland Rothrock of Alexandria; three sisters, Mrs. Herman Heise and Mrs. Richard Askew, both of Denver, Colo.; Miss E. Cleves Rothrock of Philadelphia; two brothers, Joseph T., of Johnstown and a twin, Dr. Harry A., Jr., of Westtown.7 Daily Local News, 7/1/1971
Rothrock, John William: 10/7/2006
John William Rothrock, 86, of West Chester, PA and Watchung, NJ, died Saturday after a long illness. Born in the family farmhouse in 1920 in Bangor, PA, Mr. Rothrock was the fourth of five sons of John R. and Clara May (Leh) Rothrock. He attended Bangor High School and was the first in his family to go on to college, earning a B.S. in Chemistry from Penn State in 1941.
During World War II, Mr. Rothrock served as an aerial navigator in the U.S. Army Air Corps; he was discharged in 1946 as a 2nd Lieutenant. After the war, while still stationed at Chanute Field in Rantoul, Illinois, he met Goldie “Liz” Swango. They married in August of 1946. Shortly thereafter, he entered the University of Illinois as a graduate student in biochemistry.
Upon completing his Ph.D. in 1949, Mr. Rothrock accepted a position as a research chemist at Merck & Co. and relocated to New Jersey. Over the course of the next 37 years, his research would help shape some of the firm’s most important drugs, including Mevacor and Vasotec. He retired in 1986, having spent his entire career with Merck.
Mr. Rothrock served on the school board of Watchung, NJ, during the 1970s and was a deacon at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church in Plainfield. He was an active member of the Green Mountain Club and the Appalachian Mountain Club. He loved hiking and photography and continued hiking in locations such as the Grand Canyon and the Swiss Alps into his 70s. He and his wife traveled throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, as well as Australia and New Zealand. He was interested in genealogy and spent 12 years researching the Rothrock family back to its arrival at the port of Philadelphia in 1733 and even further to its roots in the Rhine River Valley in Germany.
He is survived by Liz Rothrock, his wife of 60 years; two brothers, Harold of Liberty, PA, and Paul of Williamsport, PA; his daughters Janet Rothrock of Concord, MA, and Susan Mitchell of West Chester, PA; and by four grandchildren, Kathleen and Elizabeth of Concord, MA, and Margaretta and Ian of West Chester, PA. Visitation begins at 10 am on Thursday, October 12, at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Frazer, PA; a funeral service and reception follow at 11 am. Burial will be private.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Mr. Rothrock’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association, Delaware Valley Chapter, 100 N. 17th Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103.
Arrangements by DellaVecchia, Reilly, Smith & Boyd Funeral Home, Inc. West Chester 610-696-1181
Sources & Notes
- 1This was Charles Tatman Reynolds, middle initial should be T not M
- 2Elizabeth Watt McFarland – middle initial is W not G.
- 3Daily LocalNew, West Chester, 11/1/943
- 4Local Daily News, 1/27/1940
- 5American Republican Newspaper, 2/23/1915
- 6Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/27/1983
- 7Daily Local News, 7/1/1971