Jennie A. Mayer

Mayer – Jennie Almeda (Grove), 100, passed away at Windber Hospice, January 3, 2019.Born July 17, 1918 in Echo, Pennsylvania.  Jennie was the last surviving member of the family of William,Sr. and Ada (Yoder) Grove.  Preceded in death by her parents; brothers, William, Jr., Harry and Walter, sister, Elda Headrick, and husband, Rudolph F. Mayer.  She is survived by children: Donald married to Janet Fuller; Delores married to David Bracken, Sr., and Gary married to Alice Nischalke all of Jackson Township.  Also grandchildren: David Bracken Jr. married to Margaret Plouse, Vinco, Douglas Mayer married to Vicky Zatorsky, Hastings; Darrin Mayer married to Barbara Nealen, Doylestown; Keith Mayer married to Eileen Filozof, Parkersburg,, WV; Anita  married to Steve Lewis, Revloc; and 7 great-grandchildren, and 1 great-great grandchild. In 1937, Jennie married Rudy Mayer and moved to Jackson Township residing on the Mayer Family Farm owned and operated by her husband and his brother Ted. Never having lived on a working farm before, she found it to be extremely quiet, but also learned that being a farm wife was no easy task. Not only did she bake, cook and clean and care for the family as it grew, but she was often recruited to work outdoors in the truck garden, daily assisted with the evening milking of the dairy cows and helped care for chickens, turkeys and pigs.  After the death of her husband in 1989, Jennie stayed on at the main farm house living with her son, Gary and wife Alice.  After a short stay in the hospital in 2015 she ended her residency of 78 years on the farm and made her home with her daughter, Delores and husband, David Bracken. Appropriately their house is located near several of the farm fields giving Jennie the opportunity to still keep track of some of the ongoing farm operations and the herd of beef cattle. Jennie was a charter member of the Singer Hill Grace Brethren Church near Vinco and later became a dedicated member of the Ebensburg Evangelical Church in Revloc. She was also a member of the Jackson Township Homemakers Club, the Jackson Township Senior Center at Vinco where she participated in a knitting club making hats and other articles that were donated to various charities.  After moving from the farm to her daughter’s home, she continued to keep busy, knitting hats, putting together puzzles and reading her bible on a daily basis until her recent illness. Jennie also loved playing games and became quite accomplished at the game of Pinochle, a fact that became well known among a group of seniors who gathered together at the senior center to play every Monday night. Remaining both mentally sharp and in good physical shape for the majority of her 100 year span, Jennie often attributed her longevity to the Lord, who blessed her with good family genes, and the bowl of oatmeal she had for breakfast every day.  To sum up her busy life on the farm, she once said, “We just farmed, that is what we did and it was a good, quiet life.” Viewing and visitation will be from 12:00 p.m. until time of the Funeral Service at 2:00 PM on Monday at the Baker Harris Funeral Chapel, 229-231 First Street, Conemaugh. Pastor Clifford Richey and Pastor Drew Walther, officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to Ebensburg Evangelical Bible Church, 130 Belair St., Revloc, PA 15948  or Windber Hospice, 600 Somerset Ave., Windber, PA 15063 in memory of Jennie. Private interment at Forest Lawn Cemetery. Online condolences may be posted at www.wharrisfuneralhome.com.