I am honored to do this person’s life story for you. She is known as Suzanne Sickler Ohl to most people. To close friends and family she is called “Suey.”
The Sickler family line traces back to 1754 when they came to America from Hamburg, Germany. The original last name was Von Ziegler and was changed to Sickler here in America. Christopher Gotthard and Susannah Sickler were Suzanne’s first direct descendants in the New World. They were Suzanne’s great-great-great-grandparents and they made Chew’s Landing, N.J. their new home. Leonard Christopher and Margaret Sutter Sunderland Sickler were Suzanne’s grandparents. Leonard and Margaret lived in McGees Mills, Pa.
Leonard worked at a quarry in McGees Mills. He also worked as the superintendent of construction for the railroad and did designing and engineering of construction projects for his half brother, Henry Swope Kerbaugh. Leonard supplied to Henry the stone from the McGees Mills quarry that was used to build the Rockville Bridge in Harrisburg. The mile-long railroad bridge is the world’s largest arch bridge still in use.
The Leonard Sickler family moved to Cresson to run the company commissary at the quarry there. Then the family came to Tyrone, and Leonard worked at the shovel works in Bellwood. The Sickler family has been a cornerstone of the Tyrone community since 1907.
Suzanne’s maternal family line is McNelis, who immigrated from County Donegal, Ireland to America in 1851. Rose Anne and Patrick McNelis were Suzanne’s great-grandparents. They came to Tyrone, where they bought twenty-nine acres of ground beyond the Tyrone railroad station along the Thomastown road and built two homes there. The first was a small, log home below the railroad tracks. Then in 1877 they built a frame home above the tracks. Patrick worked for the railroad, and Rose Anne was a homemaker. The McNelis home also was a boarding house for many railroad workers and a rest stop for many immigrants going west.
Margaret Isabel McNelis and Harry Kerbaugh Sickler Sr. were Suzanne’s parents. In January 1922 Belle was asked to go to a party with Harry. On July 20, 1922 Harry asked Belle to marry him and on September 4, 1922 they were wed in the St. Matthew’s Rectory, in Tyrone.
Belle was a girl who loved life. If you were around her long, you would be caught up in her spell. She would do anything for her community and was admired for her contributions to others. Belle wrote to every Tyrone serviceman who served in World War II. She wanted these servicemen to know that their hometown hadn’t forgotten them.
Harry Sr. graduated from Tyrone High School and had no interest in joining the family construction business. He was drawn to the sales business. Harry traveled throughout the week in this vocation. Tyrone, however, always was Harry’s home — if only for the weekends. He worked for the Pet Milk Company, Barr & Rothrock Company, and the Harris Pump Company through the years. In 1941 Harry Sr. started his own company, Sickler & Potter Co., in Pittsburgh, selling pumps. Harry passed away in New York City on December 19, 1944 while on one of his business trips.
The Sickler couple started their family in their home at 315 Washington Ave. Suzanne is the eldest of six children born in the homestead. Mary “Suzanne” was born September 11, 1923, followed by Agnes Kathryn on July 23, 1925, William McNelis on January 8, 1927, Leonard Christopher III on December 9, 1928, Harry Kerbaugh Jr. on November 12, 1930, and Margaret Jane on September 9, 1932.
On January 5, 1933 Suzanne’s mother died in her home from the flu at the young age of forty-one. The youngest child, Margaret, was three months old when Belle passed away. Suzanne was nine at the time of her mother’s death.
Harry Sr. was busy with his job, which took him out of town Monday through Friday. The question of who would take care of the children was answered by Rosemary “Jane” McNelis. Aunt Jane was Belle’s sister, and she put her life aside for these children. Jane moved into the Sickler home on Washington Ave. to keep all the children under one roof.
Aunt Jane stepped in and continued what Belle had started. This meant keeping the family together and making the children her first priority. Jane also worked at the Tyrone post office for thirty-five years. She literally worked from morning till night for the brood. All the Sickler children attended St. Matthew’s School from first to eighth grades. This meant that Jane would be washing and ironing uniforms for six children. Often she worked late into the night to accomplish all her new tasks as a mother.
Harry Sr. was home most every weekend and lived for the times he had with his children. Suzanne recalls the breakfasts he would cook for them. He loved to cook, and on most Sundays he would cook the dinner meal.
The Sickler family income was in the middle bracket. Suzanne recalls that they would wait for their daddy to take a nap on the sofa so that they could retrieve the coins that would fall under the cushions. This change would be the Sickler children’s spending money for the week. Jane always found ways to make ends meet. She would dye the heavy, felt blankets that came from the local paper mill and sew them into snow pants for the children to wear in the winter.
One sporting event Suzanne remembers well was the trip to Shenandoah to play the state championship football game. This was in 1940 when the Tyrone football team appeared in its first state championship playoff. The fans traveled on a special train from the Tyrone station directly to Shenandoah. The game ended in a scoreless tie due to the very wet field conditions.
Following Suzanne’s high school graduation in 1941 she attended Seton Hill College, in Greensburg, for one year. In the fall of 1942 she went to Penn State, where she majored in home economics and science, graduating in June 1944.
Suzanne returned to her alma mater in Tyrone and taught home economics for two years at the junior high school. In the fall of 1946 she went to Erie County and did one year of extension work. Following her extension work Suzanne took a teaching position in New Jersey at the Bloomfield school, staying there two years. The West Orange School District, in New Jersey, hired Suzanne in 1949, and she remained there until she retired in 1977. Suzanne retired as the home economics supervisor/teacher for kindergarten through college. During her tenure, she authored textbooks and continued her education, obtaining a masters degree from Columbia University and a six-year level degree from Rutgers University.
In December 1944 Suzanne’s father, Harry Sr., died unexpectedly in New York. Suzanne then made a promise to help her younger siblings in any way she could and still continues to be there for her family today.
Suzanne’s sister Agnes Kathryn, who was nicknamed “Billy,” graduated from high school and married James Clark Glenn, of Tyrone. The young couple would be blessed with seven children. In January 1958 James died, and in June 1964 Billy passed away. Suzanne took on the role of parent to the Glenn children. In 1964 Suzanne moved the five children still living at home back to New Jersey with her and finished rearing them.
When Suzanne had lived in the apartment in New Jersey she became close friends with a mother and her son who lived next door. Carrie and Paul Ohl were these neighbors. Prior to 1964 Carrie and Paul would share holiday celebrations with Suzanne when she could not go home to Tyrone.
Paul worked for the Universal Foods Co. Yeast Division, in New Jersey. On one of the visits when Suzanne went to New Orleans Paul asked her to marry him. Suzanne and Paul Williamson Ohl were married on July 30, 1976 in Our Lady of Lourdes Church in West Orange, N.J.
When Suzanne retired she and Paul moved back to Tyrone. They bought a house built by the Tyrone High School vocational boys. Paul and Suzanne then held a large family reunion in 1990 to bring all of the family together once again.
Suzanne and Paul came to Tyrone, but I don’t believe they ever really retired. They became very active in the community and worked for the betterment of St. Matthew’s church and school. Suzanne also became very active in projects for the future of Tyrone. Suzanne attended many Tyrone Borough Council and Chamber of Commerce meetings. She worked with the Main Street Tyrone project for the future developments of Tyrone. Suzanne wrote articles of historical interest for Tyrone (the Chamber newsletter) and for the Tyrone Daily Herald. She helped organize the Tyrone Area Historical Society.
Gene Johnson and Suzanne traveled to Harrisburg to obtain Historic District status for Tyrone at the state level. Through their efforts Tyrone then was registered as an Historic District. This was not an easy task since the two Tyrone representatives had to sit in front of a committee of judges and be prepared to answer all questions asked of them. Many towns that obtain this status are county seats. Tyrone is one of the few towns to have this honor and not be a county seat.
Paul passed away on September 24, 1995. Suzanne for years has been “the rock” of her family but now has had to turn many tasks over to others. One of her strongest support persons is her baby brother, Harry Kerbaugh Sickler Jr. Harry made it possible to move the office from Suzanne’s home to where we are today.
Suzanne is one person who will not be forgotten when the years roll on. Her family values, work ethic, and strong character are not duplicated in many people. She is my inspiration to carry on in this “Society.” “Thank you, Suey!” for sharing with all of us.
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