This is the picture slideshow that was shown at the Memorial Service.
Daughter Cheryl Snyder gave a very interesting eulogy of the life of Marie….
Marie Elizabeth Kuhns Hertzler
Mom was born in Chambersburg, PA on September 25, 1934 to Harry and Carrie (Kriner) Kuhns. Her birth came only 11 months after the firstborn in the family, Miriam. Miriam had light skin, blue eyes and strawberry blond hair. Mom had dark brown eyes, dark hair, and dark skin. They often were dressed in matching styles but Miriam was in blue and Mom was dressed in red. She always loved the color red! Donnie, the only boy in the family came next. 8 years later, on her birthday, her younger sister, Joyce, was born. Mom loved her birth family and made much effort to keep in touch. In later years they would gather at our family cabin three times a year. In July the next generation was invited to join them and it was then that we would float down the James River, a bonding time for the Kuhns family.
The Harry Kuhns’ family lived on a working farm in Chambersburg. Harry was a custom harvester running the thrashing machine for area farms. Mom, a Tomboy of sorts, was often hired by other farmers to drive tractor. This skill came in handy later in life when she would bale hay all day while we kids were in school.
When Mom and her siblings were all school age, the family rented the Chambersburg farm out and moved to 883 College Avenue in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The main purpose of the move was for Mom and her siblings to attend Eastern Mennonite School. It was during registration for classes that Mom poked her face in the door of the registration room and Dad spotted her. One look and he was smitten.
In High School Dad owned a scooter which was a significant part of their courting. I think Dad was always curious whether she would have even considered him if it had not been for that scooter. They did a lot of group dating and Mom loved to be with people and where school activities were happening. All was not rosy however. Once, Dad showed up in a car load of his buddies. They had been smoking cigars. He breathed his smoky breath into her face and proudly said, “What do you think of that?” She was livid and ready to call the whole thing off! He never tried that again.
The fall after their graduation Dad and Mom were married on October 24th, 1953. They soon moved to Fishersville, Va. where Dad worked on a Research Farm fulfilling his 1-W obligation which was an alternative Service option for those who were Conscientious Objector’s to participating in the war effort. Bobby, their pride and joy, was born during this time. Two years later, Tony, a blond cutie was born.
They moved back to Newport News for a brief period of time while Dad worked delivering milk to area stores and Mom worked in a poultry store and took care of her little boys.
In 1959 the family of four moved from Newport News to Powhatan, Virginia planning to dairy farm on what they would call Fighting Creek Farm. They moved into a house 9/10 of a mile off the road that had not been lived in for 7 years prior. There was no central heat and few comforts. Marie struggled to make that big house into a home but she prevailed. It was an ideal place to grow up for Bobby, Tony and Cheryl Kristine who was born in 1962. Mom push-mowed the lawn, grew a huge garden, hand-made our clothes and meals. She was often lonely and alone. She was the book keeper for the farm and even backed down IRS auditors once when he challenged her numbers. She and Dad were instrumental in getting the Powhatan Mennonite Church started after being the first Mennonites to move to the area.
She did not broadcast her faith verbally but she certainly lived by the scriptures in Matthew 25:35-36. 35For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you took Me in, 36I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you visited Me. Mom served her community as a way of walking out her faith. She began the Clothes Closet in the area after seeing the need. She organized road side clean ups. I was taken along on more than one trip to hand deliver our own hand-me-downs to families in need. She worked at the Bank of Powhatan for 15 years as a Teller which combined her love of people and her financial skills. She served as Christmas Mother organizing gifts for needy families. She volunteered at the voting Polls and delivered Meals on Wheels. She volunteered for the Powatan Rescue Squad. She hit her goal of going on 1700 rescue calls. Sometimes she would be the only one at the scene. After assessing, loading the patient and recruiting a driver, she would ride in the back caring for the Patient. This was particularly selfless as she often would be sick with motion sickness from riding in the back. She much preferred to be the ambulance driver.
After her children were all grown and out of the house she began riding bicycle which proved to be her greatest passion. She rode 63,000 miles throughout 18 countries. When not riding bicycle she and Dad would travel the world together. In total she visited 36 countries.
Eventually Mom was diagnosed with Late Onset Alzheimer’s. It robbed this otherwise bright and charismatic woman of her relationships, her drive, and her mission. However, it rarely took away her peace. And never took away her kindness. Even when she didn’t know who I was, she would ask if I needed a place to stay the night and ask about “my little ones”. She constantly looked for “Mr. Bob”, sometimes recruiting dad to help in her search. She often longed to go “home” which we eventually realized meant her Chambersburg home.
Mom had strong opinions and passions. She often said of things in her home, “If I liked it once, I still liked it many years later”. Things that she loved were her children, grandchildren, reading, her neighbors, bicycling, her parents and siblings, creativity shown in her sewing, painting, and coloring, her desire to be helpful to her community, world travel, and her church. Most of all she loved her Mr. Bob who was her devoted husband for 71 years. Even after she no longer recognized him as her husband, she still longed to keep him in sight and felt cared for and secure in his presence.
Mom was not perfect.
She once accidently went into the Men’s bathroom at a beach and thought the urinal was for washing sand off your feet. It wasn’t until she heard a man whistling in a stall that she realized her mistake!
She struggled with depression when put into a remote place away from people. She felt released from prison when she could finally move out of the Old Plantation home they first lived in when coming to Powhatan. After selling the cows they moved to the cabin and she immediately regretted it and was miserable until they moved into their retirement home.
Together she and Dad were frugal…sometimes to a fault.
I remember her wearing a pair of shoes that had accidentally been left in the sun. One faded to a light pink while the other was a vibrant red. In her mind, they were still perfectly fine.
They had a dishwasher that required sitting for minutes pressing on a switch to make the connection to start. Only Mom could get it to start. Eventually it died and the rest of the family was relieved.
She would scrape every bit of butter or cream cheese off the paper that the sticks were wrapped in.
She would tear mold off the corners of bread or cheese and say the rest was perfectly fine.
Once she stopped a State Trooper and accused him of littering.
Although she was an excellent baker whose sweet rolls, pies, dinner rolls were legendary in our minds, she would not make Dad a Lemon Meringue Pie in the winter. She insisted they were only summer pies. This was an ongoing disagreement.
There were things that were NOT important to my Mom.
She was never very concerned with acknowledging birthdays or holidays, something my parents said was marketed to people to get you to spend your money.
She did not care about the color of a person or their economic standing. She understood that people go through hard times and need to be given Grace and a hand up during those times.
I loved my Mom. All my life I have been told that I looked like her, something that I never minded. I feel that my claim to fame is the fact that I am the daughter of Bob and Marie Hertzler. I’m grateful to God that he placed me in their family and that they influenced my children and grandchildren.