You will learn about Betty Fortney and Carl Babe’s family histories in this issue. The Fortney family resided in Tyrone, and the Babe family settled in the Philadelphia area.
Betty’s great-grandfather, John Henry Fortney, settled in Boalsburg, where his home remains standing today. Her grandfather, John H. Fortney, Jr., who worked as a tailor in Tyrone, married Jane Reel, whose family also lived in Tyrone. The couple had five children. In 1876 their only son, Verne Fortney, was born. After her husband’s death, Jane took over the business to provide the necessary income to finish raising the brood of five.
Betty’s father Verne became a mail carrier in the rural area southeast of Tyrone. While delivering mail Verne noticed a young woman who lived in the Ironville area named Carry Belle Ross. Carry’s family owned and operated a general store in Ironville. Carry’s parents were Anna Jenkins and John Ross. A friend of Verne’s, Mr. Hane, introduced the couple at the German Lutheran church in Tyrone, where both families were members. Verne courted Carry, and subsequently they married.
The couple was blessed with five children: Dorothy (Glasgow), Jack, Mildred (Sober), Max, and Betty, who was born on November 11, 1913. The Fortney family first lived on Washington Ave. and later moved to 108 7th St. Betty’s brother Jack was sickly most of his life and died at age twenty-one of tuberculosis.
Like many men of that time, Verne had more than one job so as to provide for his family. At his second job, he sold powdered milk on a route throughout the area.
Betty remembers going on many family camping trips because her brother Jack needed a lot of fresh air. With a smile, Betty stated that on these outings the girls played as rough as the boys. Verne tried hard to make life as full as he could for his children because his wife Carry, who was ill, could not do much with the children.
Verne, always a jolly man, continued to make children happy all his life. An amateur wood-carver, he set out to make his grandchildren a hand-carved, three-ring circus containing 1000 pieces carved using his trusty pocket knife. The circus was exhibited in department stores and was featured in the September 1940 issue of Chrysler Photo-Gram magazine.
Betty and her siblings attended Washington and Logan Schools and then Tyrone High School, on Lincoln Ave., where she was graduated in 1933. Betty remembers receiving a total of fifty dollars in gifts for her graduation, which was a small fortune in those days.
Betty went on to business school at night at the high school so she could care for her ill mother during the day. After finishing her course, Betty went to work for Dr. Richard W. Stever, Sr., a dentist whose office was located in the Commerce Building at 1062 Pennsylvania Ave. That was in 1942 — the year she would meet her lifelong partner, Carl.
Carl’s father, James Babe, came to the United States from County Down, Ireland at the age of fourteen. James was a wool weaver by trade and lived near Philadelphia. Carl’s mother, Mimi H. Grider, was of English descent and was born in Chester, Pa. James and Mimi married and settled in Twin Oaks, Delaware County, Pa. They were blessed with eight children: Ross, Stanley, Carl, Richard, Paul, Nelson, Rodney, and Erma. Carl was born on December 13, 1916.
James died in 1932 at the age of forty-seven from epilepsy, which he developed while serving in the Spanish-American War. Carl was only sixteen when he lost his father.
The Babe children were graduated from Chester High School, Carl in 1936. He went on to the University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in 1941 with a degree in veterinary medicine. Following graduation Carl started his practice in Newville, Pa.
In May 1942 Carl received word that a veterinarian named Roscoe N. Quigley, in Tyrone, was retiring and was looking for someone to take over his practice. Carl inquired and moved to Tyrone to take over the practice. He roomed in the home of W.C. Barr, on Logan Ave., which cost Carl ten dollars a week, including meals — the going rate at that time.
Carl set up his office in Dr. Quigley’s old quarters, located on the second floor of the Commerce Building, just behind Dr. Stever’s dentist office. The need was very great in this area for a reliable vet because so many people had farm animals and horses. The practice in those early years was eighty percent large working farm animals and twenty percent small, pet-type animals.
Because Carl always was in his office, he noticed a nice-looking, young girl who worked in the nearby dentist office. As luck would have it, Carl needed to have his teeth checked and went next door to see Dr. Stever. This was how Carl got introduced to the young Betty Fortney.
Betty and Carl courted for two years. Most of the dates were spent riding to veterinary calls with Carl. Betty told me about one call she went on with her young man. Carl had been called to the Baney farm and, as usual, Betty went along. While Carl tended to the animal, Betty went into the house to wait with the farmer’s wife. She remembers sitting at the table chatting and being told that the children in the home were all ill with whooping cough. Whooping cough usually was a childhood disease, but Betty came down with it after this visit.
Betty and Carl married on August 26, 1944. Their small, family wedding was held in the Fortneys’ home, on 7th St. The couple honeymooned in Philadelphia.
When they returned they set up housekeeping in their home at 513 W. 5th St. Carl had bought the home in the spring of 1944 and it was in need of many repairs. Betty worked side by side with Carl fixing up their home in the months before their wedding.
Betty became Carl’s secretary at his office after their marriage. When the office phone was installed, they had the same number put in at their home. Time was a big factor in saving an animal’s life, so the earlier you got the call the better chance the patient had. Carl still was on call twenty-four hours a day.
Betty and Carl were blessed with two children: Debora, in 1946 and Bruce, in 1949.
Much of Carl’s practice was performed on area farms, where he was drawn to the dairy industry. Carl bought two adjoining farms in R.D. 1, Warriors Mark, consisting of 600 acres. He devoted his time to developing a herd of quality Holsteins. Carl had forty registered milking cows and forty heifers. The Daniel Durbin family later purchased part of the farm from Carl when he retired from the dairy business after eighteen years.
Carl kept his practice in the Commerce Building for twenty years. In 1961 he bought the Davis Building, at 19 E. 10th St. The building was completely remodeled. Dr. James W. Ramsay was one of the doctors hired, who later would take over the practice from Carl. Dr. Wayne Hershberger was the other doctor on the team. At the end of 1976 Carl retired from his practice after thirty-six years as a veterinarian.
Every summer the Babe family traveled to Sunken Meadow Beach, Va. They rented the same inexpensive cottage on the beach every year. After retirement Betty and Carl spent their vacations in a small beach house on Sanibel Island, Fla. during January and February.
Over the years Carl has ventured into various businesses. First was a drive-in theater in Williamsport, called the Harvest Moon Theater, that he and other businessmen started in 1952. Another undertaking in life was the first car wash in Tyrone, which he started on Washington Ave. in 1958. Carl recalls with a grin, when he sought a loan, the bank officer asked what a car wash was.
Presently, Carl is involved with an outsourcing venture in Tyrone called Labor Specialties Inc. It was formed in 1989 by a group of Tyrone businessmen.
Betty served on the local service league and is a past president. She was a member of a circle known as the “breakfast club,” which prided itself as a group who would never listen to or repeat gossip. They met at one another’s home every Tuesday morning to have topical discussions or sometimes make a craft. Some of its members were Ninie Burley, Betty Crownover, Mary Panasiti, Peg Woodring, and Mickie Ferrari.
Carl has served in the Rotary Club of Tyrone for fifty-seven years and is a past president (1973–74). In 1999 he was recognized by the Club for his constant “Service Above Self” demeanor through the years and was made a Paul Harris Fellow. He is a charter member of the Tyrone Area Historical Society and served as its secretary for eight years.
Betty and Carl have served the First Presbyterian Church for more than fifty years — Carl as an Elder and both as Sunday school teachers.
This couple will work to their last days toward the betterment of Tyrone and its people. The strong partnership they have together stands out when you first meet them.
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