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Ancestors of Catherine Kyes

Generation No. 1

1. Catherine Kyes^1,^2,³, born May 23, 1913 in Boston, MA ^4,⁵; died October 03, 1990 in Marlboro, MA ⁶. She was the daughter of 2. Dr. Karl Sumner Kyes and 3. Violet Jane Burgess. She married (1) John Elberfeld⁷ July 08, 1939 in Peterborough, NH ⁸. He was born April 27, 1903 in Buffalo, NY ⁹, and died July 02, 1981 in Fairbanks, Alaska at the Fairbanks Hospital^9,¹⁰. He was the son of Samuel Louis Elberfeld and Isobel Ross Holton.

Notes for Catherine Kyes:
Birthdate from Cradle Roll Certificate for the Unitarian Sundy School in Peterborough New Hampshire. The certificate was signed on April, 1915, by both Isobel and Samuel L. Elberfeld, the pastor as well as future parents in law.

[Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1 A-L, Ed. 5, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Mar 14, 1998, Internal Ref. #1.111.5.69486.72]

Individual: Elberfeld, Catherine
Social Security #: 012-36-2966
SS# issued in: Massachusetts
Birth date: May 23, 1913
Death date: Oct 3, 1990
ZIP Code of last known residence: 01581
Primary location associated with this ZIP Code:
Westborough, Massachusetts

Worcester Evening Gazette 11/13/72
Retired Couple Finds Plenty of Adventure
By BARBARA BALFOUR

The Evening Gazette

WESTBORO -. Mr. and Mrs. John Elberfeld of 26 Grove St., who both retired last spring, don't miss the old jobs at all.
''We're having a ball,'' Mrs. Elberfeld said yesterday.
The couple sailed a new 22-foot fiberglass Venture from Boston along the Maine coast on a two-week trip this summer.
Wednesday they returned from a 10-day trip to Morocco.
Friday they left on a swing around New England colleges to recruit transfer students for the Central New England College of Technology. This is
the new college which grants a four-year degree, and is an extension of Worcester Junior College.

Dean for 26 Years

The technology college is Elberfeld's baby. For 26 years as dean of Worcester Junior College he felt the need of an additional, degree-granting institution for technical and engineering students. Although he retired in June, he is still a consultant and on the board of Trustees.
Mrs. Elberfeld for 15 years was librarian at Westboro High School.
'Though I enjoyed the school tremendously, I was glad to retire," she says. 'Fifteen years of getting up at 6:30 am. is enough. Where John and I had always worked in educational institutions, we were used to 1ong summers, so there wasn't the feeling some wives of retired men have of what to do with a man around the house all day, that I-married-not-for-lunch bit."
One of the nicest things about retirement, the Elberfelds think, is that you can do things on impulse. Trips don't have to be fitted into schedules and planned a long time.

Impulse Trip
The Moroccan outing came about because of a brochure Elberfeld received about a charter plane trip sponsored by the Massachusetts Society for Professional Engineers. It seemed off-season and inexpensive, so in a matter of days, they were up and running. The Elberfelds are fascinated with Morocco. They saw big cities such as Tangier and Casablanca that don't seem much different from big cities anywhere. And they got inland to small villages and a town like Marakeesh.
"I felt as if I were walking around in the Bible in Marakeesh," Mrs. Elberfeld said. "Women holding babies ride on donkeys with their husbands walking beside, just like Mary and Joseph. Camels pull plows, women wash at the river's edge. In the market place at Marakeesh, the country people come in for miles around to watch acro-bats, trained birds, and snake charmers. They even cluster around story tellers, which touched me."
A high point of the trip was a get-together with Doug Teschner of Westboro, now serving with the Peace Corps in Rabat. He took the Elberfelds to a French restaurant and helped them buy a rug.
Bargaining is an exhausting performance in Morocco, Mrs. Elberfeld said. But she said she got cannier with each purchase. In almost no time, a string of Sahara amber that was $10 came down to $2.

Article written for the Willows Retirement Community Newspaper around 1989 in Westboro, MA
Catherine Kyes Elberfeld
"John, no more base ball today," warned Mrs. Elberfeld. "Catherine, the new baby next door, is out and you might hit a ball into her carriage." Ten year old John reluctantly shouldered his bat and sought a distant place in Peterborough, N. H. to practice. He probably thought all babies were a nuisance, especially the one next door. Catherine grew into a healthy three year old, and John became an even better ball player when Rev. Elberfeld, a Unitarian minister, and his wife moved to another parish. Catherine's parents were good friends of the Elberfelds and kept in touch with their old neighbors. Dr. Kyes was the dentist in Peterborough and counted the populace as his patients.
The Kyes lived in town, but had a cottage on Sunset Lake at the base of Crotched Mountain. They spent the summers there just a twenty minute drive from the doctor's office. Later, Catherine's children had happy times there, often treated at breakfast to hot homemade doughnuts by their Grandmother Kyes. Now it is a favorite place for Catherine's grandchildren. Only three weeks ago she opened the cottage so her Radcliffe granddaughter and friends could have a skating party on the frozen lake.
Catherine remembers her own happy time of growing up in Peterborough, the school's good teachers, the good behavior of the students and the fine academic standards. An added joy for her was dancing school. Her only complaint about life: too much parental supervision. But being an only child she had to put up with it. Imagine her delight when, at fifteen, she was allowed to go to a summer conference of young Unitarians on Star Island, off Portsmouth, ten miles out in the Atlantic. Her anxious mother had taken her to the boat. Re-lieved she was to see John Elberfeld among the crowd. "I'm glad there's some-one I know among this group," she greeted him. "Please take care of Catherine."
That evening when Catherine came down the hotel's great winding staircase to the lobby, John was waiting for her. The first dance was his. Because a man who had been to Harvard approved of her, other young men asked for dances too. It was a wonderful week for her.
Soon came college days at Radcliffe. She graduated with a major in English. Her career councilor suggested that she become a librarian. She had worked in the college library for fifty cents an hour and in the summer she had been an appren-tice in a public library. She was ready to enroll in the famous one year course in library science at Simmons College to become a professional. Opportunity came for her to work in a new branch library in Rochester, N.Y.
In 1928 John Elberfeld graduated from Harvard with a major in Mechanical Engineer-ing. He returned the next year to get a degree in Electrical Engineering. He had no trouble getting work with General Electric. The Great Depression was readying to shake up many careers. The lay-offs began, first at GE, at Western Electric, American Steel and Wire and on and on, until he became disillusioned with the industrial system. He thought his education might fit him for teaching. In Boston, he passed the necessary examinations and registered on the list of substitute teachers. John was living with his parents in East Boston. To see if there was a day's work for him on that list he had to be at the Board of Education by seven in the morning. One lucky break: a teacher was away for a year. John had that class. Finally through a teachers' agency he heard that Rochester Institute of Technology needed someone who could teach science and also coach the basketball team. John won the job which took him to Rochester, N.Y.
At a Home Dance at R. I. T. John saw Catherine and cut in on her indignant partner.
John wanted to know all about her life. They renewed their interest in the
Unitarian Young People's group, went to church together and to the many activities of the church and college. Catherine was always careful to bring another girl
along so John could have a great choice of friends. He seemed to be looking for someone. At last he said, "Catherine, don't bring any more friends. It's you I want to be with."
And so they were married by John's father on July 8, 1939 in the biggest wedding Peterborough had ever seen. Dr. Kyes had lived there all his life. Lest they unwittingly forget a name, they printed the invitation in the newspaper, in-viting everyone. A caterer in Fitchburg managed the refreshments. On their wedding trip John and Catherine drove to Montreal, to Quebec, east to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, then home down the coast of Maine. Catherine could see how much John loved to travel.
In Rochester Catherine began her career as full time wife and mother. Ann Kyes was born in 1941, John Carl in 1945. The Elberfelds enjoyed Rochester. Catherine pushed her perambulator through the parks when the city's famous lilacs were in bloom. But when John became Dean of Engineering at Worcester Junior College he and Catherine were glad to return to New England. House hunting showed up the shockingly higher prices of the area. Someone suggested the charming little town of Westborough. "Splendid!" said Catherine's mother. "Be sure to look up Cousin Mary." "Mother," Catherine remonstrated, "this is a house hunting expedition, not a time for visiting." They couldn't locate the house whose address the agent had given them. They did stop to ask Cousin Mary Brigham where to find the house. "You wouldn't want that one. It's down by the railroad tracks. Let me call Gustaf Carlson at the bank. Bankers know everything that's going on." She returned, smiling. "Mr. Carlson says a woman came into the bank today saying she mast sell her house. Her husband is being transferred. Go look at it now." "The house at 46 Grove Street was perfect for us," said Catherine. "It was within walking distance of our needs and interests. John drove our car to work in Worcester. We moved in. I lived there over forty years until the day I moved to The Willows."
"Ann went to the private kindergarten run by the Woman's Club. It was in the Community House, now the headquarters of the Council on Aging. It didn't take me long to get acquainted with the parents of the other children. My life followed the pattern of many mid-twentieth century mothers. I was a Den Mother, a Girl Scout leader, member of the PTA, took my turn in the offices of the Women's Club and was active in the Unitarian Church. In 1958, during the building of the new high school way out on Fisher Street, Mr. Robinson, the school Superintendent, came to me. 'You have your degree in library science; you worked three years in a public library in Rochester. So you have your certification. Could you help me plan the new library? I'll set up a little office. You be thinking what you should do.' My John was a reasonable, considerate man. 'You worked in the children's department of a branch library and you had one course in school library work,' he pointed out 'you are within walking distance of the school. Why don't you give it a try?'
"I joined the Massachusetts School Library Association and found out what they were doing. I spent half a year collecting sample and gift books given to the teachers. I managed to have something on most subjects when we moved. I orga-nized the students interested in library work into the Library Club. By June I really enjoyed the work. I enjoyed the teachers and the principal, Florence Wetherell's husband. I had to show every new class how to use the card cata-logue and the reference books. I also had to show the teachers 'the books we had which would add interest and information to their classes. The Library Club met once a month for discussions, projects and parties. We had a Snow Sculpture Contest which was judged by citizens of artistic talent. Mr. Paige, the jeweler, gave us a plaque, and always engraved the name of the winning class on it. When the next school was built I planned the library. We also had a lovely office and workroom. When my husband retired, I retired too. I had worked for fifteen years.
"Ann had graduated from Radcliffe, John from Harvard. We were free to travel. We had had many trips in the fine little camper that John had built for us. Everything was as carefully organized as in the sleekest racing yacht. We taught the children to keep it so. Each of us had a particular task which made arranging camp easy. We had our first "international trip" when Ann was fourteen and John was ten years old. We drove to California with side trips to Mexico and Canada. Now John and I could have world wide trips with the travel clubs of Harvard and Radcliffe.
"John really settled into retirement by buying a 1924 model T station wagon to restore to its once dashing elegance. There was adventure, perseverance and luck in finding seasoned oak for the wooden body, the right curtain material and up-holstery. He did all the work himself. We joined the Worcester Old Car Club, entered the car in shows, drove in parades and never missed the Fourth of July in Shrewsbury. John also had ideas about boats. As a young man he had sailed on the ocean. A constant visitor to boat shows, he found the perfect sailboat -a 22 foot Venture sloop, perfect for two people to sleep and to crew. We linked the initials of our two older granddaughters and called it the Heejah. Little Amy, following after, was the tender. We sailed in all kinds of weather, once making safe harbor just before a threatening hurricane. We always took a mooring at a Yacht Club and went ashore for dinner. We sailed out of Boston up and down the coasts of Massachusetts and Maine. John continued to serve on the Boards of various civic and educational organizations. He began the program of having citi-zens volunteer to help in the schools. This is the reason some Willows residents cross the street to the Hastings Elementary School to bring their skills to the teachers and children and, in turn, to receive pleasure and a few chuckles.
John was tutoring three handicapped children when it was time to leave on a long planned trip to Alaska. The third day of a Wild Life Bus Tour brought them sixty-five miles into the wilderness of Denali National Park, the home of moose, mountain goats and caribou. The clouds lifted to give John a chance to snap a picture of Mt. McKinley. The bus driver was a novice. He pulled off the side of the mud road into the soft berm to let a herd of caribou cross the road. Attempt-ing to drive back onto the road brought swift tragedy: the bus rolled over and over down the slope. Mr. Elberfeld lay on the tundra for two and a half hours, Catherine beside him, until he was rescued by helicopter. His back had been broken in three places. He lived for two and a half weeks before an aneurysm ended his suffering.
Life seemed shattered too for Catherine. Her children, grandchildren and the people of Westborough have been a support and comfort. Now she carries on her former activities: the Unitarian Church, the Women's Club, a bridge group, Harvard/Radcliffe organizations and her own Radcliffe Class. She is happy to see granddaughter Julie playing her violin in Harvard's Mozart Society Orchestra. Catherine's move to The Willows has been rewarding for everyone. As President of the Residents' Association she has, with kindness and diplomacy, made us a reasonably happy society. After two years in office she'd ready for that "ease and relaxation" promised us.
Sally Kenah

Catherine K. Elberfeld
WESTBORO - Catherine K. (Kyes) Elberfeld, 77, of 1 Lyman St. died Wednesday at Marlboro Hospital.
Her husband, John Elberfeld, died in 1981. She leaves a son, John Elberfeld of Rochester, N.Y.; a daughter, Anne E. Huberman of Buffalo, N.Y.; and three granddaughters. She was born in Boston, daughter of Karl S. and Violet J. (Burgess) Kyes, and lived in Westboro many years. She graduated from Peterborough, N.H., public schools.
Mrs. Elberfeld was a librarian at Westboro High School for 15 years and established libraries at the Fisher Street and Main Street high schools.
She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1935 and Simmons College School of Library Science in
1936.
She was a member of the Westboro Women's Club, Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Worcester, Westboro Historical Society, Greenfield, N.H., Historical Society, International Center of Worcester, Mechanics Hall of Worcester, Massachusetts Retired Teachers Association, the YWCA, Isles of Shoals Association and Westboro Chapter AFS.
Memorial services will be held Saturday, Oct. 20, at 2 p.m. in the Unitarian Universalist Church, 64 West Main St., with Rev. Mack Mitchell officiating. Burial will be in Pine Hill Cemetery in Peterborough at a later date. There are no calling hours. The family requests flowers be omitted. Memorial contributions may be made to the Westboro High School Library Club Fund, care of Westboro High School, 90 West Main St., Westboro, 01581. Rand and Harper Funeral Home, 62 West Main St., is directing arrangements.

A dentist who wouldn't send bills, and a daughter who tried
Paul Cummings, Senior Publisher Peterborough Transcript, October 18, 1990

The waterfront colony at Sunset Lake Greenfield lost one of its most senior residents recently with the death of CatherineElberfeld. It could be that Catherine held the record for most vacation time spent there. The Elberfeld cottage (actually more than one, sort of a compound) dates to the early part of this century and her parents, Karl and Violet Kyes. Dr. Kyes had a dental office in Peterborough (Granite Block, second floor) for more than 60 years, and I've always understood he built his camp out of wood pallets and paper skids from the Transcript, The Kyes family lived on Concord Street, next to the Town Library. Their house, on the north side, borders the ugly New England telephone building. Its present owner is lawyer Catharine Sage, who lives across the street. Dr. Kyes began his practice here in1899, the year he was graduated from Harvard Dental School. He could have been, at one time, the only dentist in town (I've lost count of how many there are today).
The last time I saw Catherine was a little over a year ago. This was when she was entertaining a classmate from her high school days, Warren "Tyke" Lounsbury, and his daughter, from Olympia, Wash. Tyke hadn't been east in decades, and it was a joy to hear first-hand about his career at the University of Washington where he was a professor of stage design and related subjects.
Tyke Lounsbury grew up here (his parents were Lincoln and Mae Lounsbury, of Nubanusit Lane), and he got his start in the theatre as an apprentice at Peterborough Players. Tyke is the author of textbooks on back-stage management, though to be with him you would never know that he is an authority on this topic. The meeting with Tyke was at Sunset Lake, and there for that happy event were several from PHS '31. The surroundings, many of us noted, were far different from what Dr. Kyes had created the early part of this century and named "Just-A-Camp."
John Elberfeld, Catherine's husband, I learned, like his father-in-law, enjoyed carpentry and was responsible (as were their son, John, and daughter, Ann) for the many new buildings on the Kyes site.
John Sr. was an educator and died in 1981 as a result of a bus accident near Mt. McKinley in Alaska. John also had Peterborough connections, his father having been minister of the Unitarian Church.
I can't conclude this piece without mention of the summer, or summers, when Catherine worked in her father's office. It seems that Dr. Kyes had no assistants, was casual about scheduling appointments, and never billed his patients. Walks-ins with a toothache, or what-ever, always received attention, and you either paid Dr. Kyes on the spot, or not at all.
Catherine thought her father's policy was not only unbusiness-like, but furthermore, he could use the money. So she volunteered to help out as receptionist and bookkeeper. My memory is that Dr. Kyes tolerated, but was not enthusiastic, for such assistance, and he was pleased when Catherine was off to Radcliffe.
Maybe this explains, partially anyway, why Peterborough was so proud in 1960 when Dr. Kyes was chosen as the town's "Citizen of the Year." Yes, I was a patient of Dr. Kyes. And Catherine was a teenage girlfriend of mine. Tyke's too. Happy memories.

Telegram and Gazette, Worcester, MA Oct 9, 1990
Obituary for Catherine K. Elberfeld
WESTBORO - Catherine K. (Kyes) Elberfeld, 77, of 1 Lyman St. died Wednesday at Marlboro Hospital. Her husband, John Elberfeld, died in 1981. She leaves a son, John Elberfeld of Rochester, N.Y.; a daughter, Anne E. Huberman of Buffalo, N.Y.; and three grand- daughters. She was born in Boston,; daughter of Karl S. and Violet J. (Burgess) Kyes, and lived in West-boro many years. She graduated from Peterborough, N.H., public schools.
Mrs. Elberfeld was a librarian at Westboro High School for 15 years and established libraries at the Fisher Street and Main Street high schools.
She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1935 and Simmons College School of Library Science in 1936.
She was a member of the West-boro Women's Club, Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Worcester, Westboro \ Historical Society, Greenfield N.H., Historical Society, International Center of Worcester, Mechanics Hall of Worcester Massachusetts Retired Teachers Association, the YWCA, Isles of Shoals Association and Westboro Chapter AFS.
Memorial services will be held Saturday, Oct. 20, at 2 p.m. in the Unitarian Universalist Church, 64 West Main St., with Rev. Mack Mitchell officiating. Burial will be in Pine Hill Cemetery in Peterborough at a later date. There are no calling hours. The family requests flowers be omitted. Memorial contributions may be made to the Westboro High School Library Club Fund, care of Westboro High
3. School, 90 West Main St., Westboro, 01581. Rand and Harper Funeral
Home, 62 West Main St., is directing arrangements.

Full Context of UMI Obituaries, 1990-1997
Headline: Catherine K. Elberfeld
Publication Date: October 09, 1990
Source: Telegram & Gazette Worcester, MA
Page: A7
Subjects: OBITS
Region: Massachusetts
Obituary: WESTBORO - Catherine K. (Kyes) Elberfeld, 77, of 1 Lyman St. died Wednesday at Marlboro Hospital.
Her husband, John Elberfeld, died in 1981. She leaves a son, John Elberfeld of Rochester, N.Y.; a daughter, Anne E. Huberman of Buffalo, N.Y.; and three granddaughters. She was born in Boston, daughter of Kark S. and Violet J. (Burgess) Kyes, and lived in Westboro many years. She graduated from Peterborough, N.H., public schools.
Mrs. Elberfeld was a librarian at Westboro High School for 15 years and established libraries at the Fisher Street and Main Street high schools.
She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1935 and Simmons College School of Library Science in 1936.
She was a member of the Westboro Women's Club, Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Worcester, Westboro Historical Society, Greenfield, N.H., Historical Society, International Center of Worcester, Mechanics Hall of Worcester, Massachusetts Retired Teachers Association, the YWCA, Isles of Shoals Association and Westboro Chapter AFS.
Memorial services will be held Saturday, Oct. 20, at 2 p.m. in the Unitarian Universalist Church, 64 West Main St., with Rev. Mack Mitchell officiating. Burial will be in Pine Hill Cemetery in Peterborough at a later date. There are no calling hours. The family requests flowers be omitted. Memorial contributions may be made to the Westboro High School Library Club Fund, care of Westboro High School, 90 West Main St., Westboro, 01581. Rand and Harper Funeral Home, 62 West Main St., is directing arrangements

JKE Notes: Pinehill Cemetery, Peterborough, NH Gravestone - "John Elberfeld 1903-1981 His wife Catherine Kyes 1913 - 1990"

More About Catherine Kyes:
Fact 1: June 19, 1935, Graduated Radcliffe Colege, Cambridge MA
Fact 3: June 08, 1936, Graduated Simmons School of Library Science
Fact 4: May 23, 1913, 7 lbs 14 oz ¹¹
Graduation: 1931, Graduated Peterboro High School

Notes for John Elberfeld:
[Broderbund Family Archive #110, Vol. 1 A-L, Ed. 5, Social Security Death Index: U.S., Date of Import: Mar 14, 1998, Internal Ref. #1.111.5.69486.91]

Individual: Elberfeld, John
Social Security #: 002-16-5772
SS# issued in: New Hampshire
Birth date: Apr 27, 1903
Death date: Jul 1981
Residence code: Massachusetts
ZIP Code of last known residence: 01581
Primary location associated with this ZIP Code:
Westborough, Massachusetts

Elberfeld Retiring - Worcester Sunday Telegram, June 25,1972

WJC Dean Ending 26-Year Tenure
By JOHN M. McALLISTER of the Telegram Staff

After 26 years as a dean at Worcester Junior College, John Elberfeld is retiring.
He came in 1946 as dean of engineering when the school's day college opened, and his last big job was planning for, and then serving as first dean of, the newborn Central New England College of Technology, which just finished its first academic year.
In the beginning, 87 per cent of WJC students were Veterans, he recalls, "and we had the problem of establishing the college so students graduating from high school would be interested."

Up From Bottom
The school's "low point." came, he says, in 1951-52, when the Korean War took. back many of the veterans and many young I high school graduates were being draftcd.
Then followed 17 or 18 years of continuous growth. Elberfeld rates the era between 1952 and 1960 as the period of greatest achievement, "when the college became established."
"Everybody in the college just worked like the dickens," he recalls. 'It was very much of a cooperative effort."
The college's specialty - which Elbetfeld thinks it does better than any other school in New England - is to take the average, or even below average high school student, work with him and make a good student.
"Our reputation is not based on our entrance requirements," he said, "but on what our graduates do."

Hails Engineering Program
He is especially proud of the WJC's engineering pro gram, which, he says, pre-pares students for both imme-diate work and transfer to a four-year college, even if the student was graduated four or five years ago. The school is now in the process of changing its business and liberal arts programs so their graduates will also be prepared for both work and transfer, Elberfeld said.
He noted that student tastes have changed over the years, from engineering to business. and then to liberal arts, but he now sees a swing back to engineering at WJC.
He thinks the school's fo-ture lies in engineering.
The junior college has seen its enrollment decline in re-cent. years but Elberfeld thinks the school can succeed in the future, 'if certain things are done.'

Hopeful for Future
We've got to get out and let the college be known. We've got to get this information out to the public," he
said, as he slapped brochures for both schools which sat on his desk. Elberfeld has recently been busi- elected to the board of trustees for both schools, and he will also serve as a consultant to the schools.
He also intends to pursue some of his outside interests, such as sailing, skiing and traveling during retirement.
In October he and his wife plan to go to Morocco. This summer they expect to cruise along the Maine coast in their 22-foot sailboat.
Back in his high school days in New Bedford, Elberfeld earned All-Scholastic honors in football, basketball and baseball. The 69-year-old dean still admits to shooting a few baskets "every time I get my hands on a basketball."

Always Taught
The author of two books in engineering, Elberfeld proudly notes that he has taught every year he has been at WJC. He thinks this experience made him a better dean.
The last few weeks have been, in his own words, "outstanding," for Dean Elberfeld. First there was the surprise party the faculty gave him, which was attended by about 150 people. "I didn't know I had that many-friends," he says.
And at the recent commencement exercises for the two schools, he received another surprise, as he was awarded the first honorary degree from Central New England College of Technology.
Sitting in his office, he recounts stories such as that of a recent student who came to Worcester Junior Co1lege with a poor record, struggled for a C average during her first semester, but then was able to graduate with honors and win admission to a select college, from which she has just been graduated.
"There are so many cases like this," he says. "That's the sort of thing that's made the whole business worth while."

Commencement, Central New England College of Technology, Worcester Junior College
June 10, 1972 Worcester Memorial Auditorium, Worcester Mass

John Elberfeld
On the occasion of its first graduation ceremony, Central NewEngland College of Technology takes great pleasure and pride in honoring you with its first honorary degree - Doctor of Humane Letters. No more appropriate person could receive this distinction, as you have by your efforts almost single-handedly brought this college into existence. That you, for at least one year, will be the only honorary degree holder from Central New England College is an especially intended honor.
You came to Worcester Junior College with eminent qualifications. A most loyal son of Harvard, where you earned degrees in both electrical and mechanical engineering, you served the General Electric Company, American Steel and Wire Company, Western Electric Company, and the Community Service of Boston. Your teaching experience included service to the Boston School System, the University of Rochester, and nine years at Rochester Institute of Technology.
In April 1946 came the call from Worcester Junior College, to which you replied, "The possibilities of the school seem very exciting and I am anxious to see what can be done." Mostly because of you, Worcester Junior College did indeed become an exciting educational institution, and, mostly because of you, great accomplishments took place.
As you rose from Chairman of the Engineering Department to Dean of the College, the College progressed with you. You developed the single two-year program which serves Both the occupational and transfer needs of students. Despite changes in student bodies, faculty, administrations, and trustees, you remained the unswerving strength of the College. You held it together through its most difficult trials; you led it to its outstanding successes. The entire Worcester Junior College Community is in your debt. In awarding you the degree - Doctor of Humane Letters - we are also offering you our thanks.

My Favorite Relative
By Heather Elberfeld, Grade 7, around 1982
An English class writing assignment

My favorite relative is my grandfather, Grampy. He's the grandfather on my father's side. Grampy was very easy-going and very sympathetic. When ever you hurt yourself or were upset he would always make a joke about it and try to make you feel better and always did. Grampy did many things in his life: he was a teacher and a dean of two colleges, and he spent a lot of time with his grandchildren. It seems to me that he always though of us before he thought of himself.
My grandfather accomplished many things in his life. He went to Harvard and got a degree in engineering. He became dean of two colleges, Worcester Junior and Central New England College of Technology. He even wrote two college textbooks on engineering. Grampy grew up in New Hampshire, but came out to Rochester for about four years. While he was here he taught at RIT and U of R but most of all he was reunited with my grandmother.
Grampy cared about everyone and would never hurt anyone. Even though he was very tall and had very big hands he was very, very gentle. Grampy was always cheerful and never nagged me about anything. If these was something he wanted me to do, he would help me do it instead of just telling me to. Unfortunately Grampy had a hearing problem and had to wear a hearing aid. But what was worse was that he had very eyes and his license was taken away, but fortunately he was still allowed to drive his "Pride and Joy", the Model "T" car he had built by hand.
My grandfather was always busy, there were so many things he liked to do. His three favorite things were sailing, travelling and making things. Grampy was very a very good sailor. He could make the sail boat do whatever he wanted it to. He and my grandmother owned two sail boats, a small one which didn't have a name, and a big one which was named after my cousin and me. What they did to get the name was to mush our initials together and make a word out of them, thus it became the HeeJah. My initials being HEE and my cousins JAH. But my aunt had another baby, so they named the dinghy after her, the Amy. One of his other favorite thins was traveling. He had been almost everywhere! He had even gone to Alaska. But I think his favorite thing was making things. Being an Engineer he was very good at it. Grampy made many things for my cousins and me. He made us a bicycle. He made us each a dollhouse. He even built us our own cabin up at Sunset Lake. In fact, he built three cabins, a boathouse, and a sauna up at the lake. But I think he likes to make things the most when he can make them with his grandchildren.
I really loved my grandfather, and I was really upset when I found out he had died. But at least he died doing one of his favorite things - travelling. He was on a tour in Fairbanks, Alaska, and was in a bus accident. It's a shame that he is gone, but I have something to remember him by. Before he died he made a tape recording of things that happened to him during his childhood. I guess I am pretty lucky I can listen to Grampy whenever I want to. I guess that just goes to show how much he loved his grandchildren and how much he really cared.

Westboro Gets Benefit Of 50 Helping Hands
September 16, 1979
By GARY V. MURRAY

Telegram Westboro Bureau

WESTBORO - One of the advantages of working as a volunteer, jokes Ronnie Newman, is "you can take a vacation any time you want."
While that may be true, Mrs. Newman is convinced that the school department's volunteer program, which she coordinates, carries far greater rewards. "It's as rewarding for the volunteers as it is for the teachers and students," she said.
Retired Dean
Another volunteer is John Elberfeld of Grove Street, retired Worcester Junior College dean. For the last two years, Elberfeld has been teaching advanced mathemat-ics to a young student, now nine-years-old, with an unusual aptitude for the subject.
"By the end of last year, I got practically through freshman Algebra with him," Elberfeld said. "It's been very interesting working with him. The kid is so interested in the stuff and so eager to learn."
The retired educator was one of the people responsible for setting up the volunteer program. "It has really been a lot of fun and I think it's been a great help to the school system," he said.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Edward E. Kelleher agrees. "It really expands your program and it has been extremely effective," Kelleher said. "We have a tremendous pool of very talented people out there and they come in and give us a very valuable service. We would like to get more of them."

Brighton Pittsford Post, Rochester, NY August 27, 1981
John Elberfeld, Former RIT Instructor, Dies in Alaska
John Elberfeld, a former instructor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, died in Fairbanks, Alaska, July 2, 1981, while undergoing surgery for injuries suffered in a bus accident. His son, John K. Elberfeld, is an instructor at Allendale-Columbia Schools, and he is a resident of 364 AlIens Creek Rd.
Mr. Elberfeld taught in the former mechanical department at RIT from 1937 to 1946. He also taught at the University of Rochester and served in industry as an engineering consultant. After leaving Rochester, he returned to his native New England, where he was appointed dean of Central New England College and Worcester Junior College.
Besides his son, John, he is survived by his wife, Catherine; a daughter, Anne Huberman, Buffalo; two brothers, George Elberfeld, Winchester, and Richard Elberfeld, Westboro. and three grandchildren.

FUDGE - DADDY'S RECIPE
Use a heavy aluminum pan with straight sides so you can clip on a Candy Thermometer. (It will read 230 degrees F when fudge is done - soft ball stage)
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa
Mix together in saucepan then add:
1 cup milk
Cook over low heat so that mixture is just bubbling. Watch to see that it does not boil over. Do NOT stir! Test often (for fun!)
When done, remove from stove. Add
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter
Beat with spoon until it starts to thicken. Don't let it get sugary. Should have a shiny surface.
Pour into a well greased pie plate. "Score" it in pieces while still warm. Cool thoroughly before breaking into pieces and eating.
(From Catherine Elberfeld to John K. Elberfeld - Fudge is more like chocolate sugar than normal fudge, but it is what we grew up on.)

Daily News-Miner, Fairbanks, Alaska, Tuesday, June 16, 1981-3
Tour bus with 32 aboard rolls down embankment
By DEBBIE CARTER
Staff Writer
Two federal agencies are jointly investigating the bus wreck in Denali National Park Monday night which killed three persons and seriously wounded three others.
There were 32 persons on the $25 wildlife tour through the park, in-cluding two drivers, when the bus left the gravel park road near the Eielson Visitors Center, tumbling 2� times down an embankment, a National Park Service spokesman said.
The dead were identified as Margaret Chappell of Little Rock, Ark., and Judith Guevara and Maria Elena Garfros de Silva, both of Mexico City, according to Park Service spokeswoman Joan Gidlund.
Listed in serious condition were TuMartin Cruz and Margaret Padilla, both of Mexico City. John Elberfeld of Westboro, Mass., was reported in satisfactory condition, after being on the serious list earlier.
Guevara and de Silva died at the scene and Chappell died at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital.
After a 31/2-hour wait in the park following the accident at around 7:30 to 8 p.m., 29 people were airlifted by Fort Wainwright Army helicopters to the Fairbanks hospital. Seven were treated and released. Injuries ranged from broken bones to bruises, Gidlund said.
A National Park Service employee was interviewing survivors of the crash this morning at the hospital in conjunction with the National Tran-sportation Safety Board to piece together what might have happened, Gidlund said this morning.
She said an NTSB team was due to arrive at the park, formerly known as Mount McKinley National Park, late today.
Officials for the bus company, Mount McKinley Tour Company, would not talk with the Daily News-Miner this morning. The park concession is owned by Outdoor World Ltd., a California company.
Although details of the accident are not known, the bus apparently rolled over a 100-foot embankment about one mile south of the Eielson Visitors Center and came to rest on its side, Park Service spokesman Robert Belous said.
He said it was clear from the indentations the bus left in the embankment that it overturned 2� times.
"You could piece that together," he said.
The visitor's center is about 70 miles southwest into the park from the park headquarters.
Belous said a visitor in the area saw the accident and went to the visitor's center where a ranger radioed for help "He immediately got on the radio."
The road grade was not steep in the area where the bus left the road, and although the road was curvy, it was relatively straight in the area of the accident.
Gidlund said two doctors who had been hiking in the park were waiting nearby for the park-operated shuttle bus when the accident happened and they were able to administer immediate aid to the injured.
Four park rangers with medical training also gave emergency first aid to the injured within minutes of the accident, Belous said. Other rangers continued arriving to give first aid to those waiting for helicopters.
After a three-hour wait, helicopter from Fort Wainwright began airlifting the passengers to Fairbanks. The last helicopter load left the park around 12:30 to 12:45 a.m. today, Belous said.
The bus carried 22 passengers from Westours Inc., who were to spend the night in the park, said Jack Musiel chairman for Westours in Seattle.
The Anchorage Daily News said the site was the same place where a woman was killed in 1974 in the park's only other fatal bus accident. Gidlund said she wasn't sure of the location, but confirmed the earlier accident, The Associated Press reported.
The newspaper quoted an unnamed former shuttle bus driver as saying the place where the accident occurred at "probably the worst section of the whole road.
"The shoulders are incredibly soft there. It's a pretty good drop off on the south side," said the man, whom the paper said drove the road for five years.
"That part is pretty worn out, gets bumpy and is pretty narrow," he said "There are some places where it's just wide enough for a bus to get through."
Park officials have complained repeatedly in recent years that the have been provided inadequate funding to maintain the park's roads, bridges and facilities.

Peterborough Transcript July 8, 1981
John Elberfeld dies from Alaska accident
John Elberfeld of Westborough, Mass., retired dean of Worcester Junior College, and Central New England College of Technology, died Thursday in Fairbanks, Alaska, of injuries received in a bus accident there on June 15.
Mr. Elberfeld lived in Peterborough as a child, when his father was minister of the Unitarian church. His wife is the former Catherine Kyes of this town. He was 78.
Mr. Elberfeld and his family have had a cottage at Sunset Lake in Greenfield for many years.
Mrs. Elberfeld was also injured in the accident which took her husband's life. They were on a three week wildlife tour of Alaska, and were with a group of 30 persons bound for Mt. McKinley National Park. Three of the group were killed instantly.
The bus rolled over twice as the driver lost control on a soft shoulder, and tumbled 100 ft. down an embankment inside the Alaskan Park, which is crowned by 20,320-ft. McKinley, America's highest peak.
Army helicopters from Fort Wainright, near Fairbanks, ferried the injured and survivors some 150 miles northeast to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, where Mr. Elberfeld died.
Mt. McKinley National Park recently was renamed Denali National Park. Outdoor World Ltd. was the sponsor of the tour. The accident occurred about 65 miles inside the park, at 8:30 p.m. on the fourth day of the wildlife trip.
Mr. Elberfeld was thrown out of the bus and received a broken back, among other injuries. His death came as a result of cardiac arrest while in surgery. Mrs. Elberfeld returned from Alaska on Friday.
Mr. Elberfeld was born April 27, 1903. He was a graduate of Harvard. His career was in education. He was a trustee of Worcester Junior College, and Central New England of which he was a founder. He received an honorary doctorate degree from the latter institution in 1972.
He was the author of two textbooks on metallurgical engineering, and had received his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Harvard University School of Engineering in 1926 and 1929 respectively.
Mr. Elberfeld was an instructor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, N.Y. 1937 to 1945, and at the University of Rochester 1942 to 1944.
He was a registered professional engineer in Massachusetts and a life member of the American Society of Electrical Engineers, and the Massachusetts School Masters Club.
He had been chairman of the Westborough School Committee and was a member of the West-borough School Advisory Committee.
He was a member of the Harvard Club of Worcester, Harvard Club of Boston, Harvard Varsity Club, Harvard Society of Engineers and Scientists, Winthrop Yacht Club, Worcester Old Car Club, and he was a past president of the Westborough Kiwanis Club.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Elberfeld leaves a son, John K. Elberfeld of Rochester, NY.; a daughter, Anne Huberman. Buffalo, NY; three grandchildren; two brothers, George of Winchester, NH and Richard of Westborough.
A memorial service will be held Sunday at the Westborough Unitarian-Universalist Church, at 3 p.m., with the Rev. Mack Mitchell officiating. In lieu of flowers donations in Mr. Elberfeld's memory can be made to the Memorial Library Fund, Central New England College, 768 Main St., Worcester, Mass.

More About John Elberfeld:
Cause of Death: Bus accident in Alaska
Medical Information: Died from aneurysm aggravated by bus accident, which also broke his neck.

Marriage Notes for Catherine Kyes and John Elberfeld:
KYES-ELBERFELD
Last Sunday afternoon at a tea in Rochester, N Y., Dr. and Mrs. Karl S. Kyes announced the engage-ment of their daughter Catherine, to John Elberfeld, son of Rev. and Mrs. Samuel L. Elberfeld of East Boston, Mass. Miss Kyes is a gradu-ate of' Peterborough High school, 1931, Radcliffe college, 1935, and the Simmons School of Library Science, 1936. For the last three years she has been a children's librarian in the Hudson branch of the Rochester Public library.
Mr. Elberfeld graduated from Har-vard College in 1926 and received his Masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Engineering in 1929. He is now an instructor in mechanical engineering at the Roch-ester Athenaeum and Mechanics in-stitute, Rochester, N. Y., where he has been for the last two years. He also coaches basketball there.
The wedding is planned for early luly.
Source: Peterborough NH Transcript May 11, 1939

Wedding Invitation Text:
Dr. and Mrs. Karl Sumner Kyes
request the honour of your presence
At the marriage of their daughter
Catherine
to
Mr. John Elberfeld
on Saturday, the eighth of July
at half after four o'clock
Daylight Saving Time
Unitarian Church
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Reception
Immediately following the ceremony
Parish House

From Certificate of Marriage
This certifies that John Elberfeld and Catherine Kyes were United in Marriage
at Peterborough, N.H. according to the Ordinance of God and the laws of the State of New Hampshire
on the 8th day of July, 1939
Witnesses: Katherine J Carr (Maid of honor), William Allen Day (Minister), Frank H. Elberfeld (John's brother and Best Man), The Congrefational Unitarian Society

From the Rochester Times-Union Wedding Blank:
Name of Bride: Catherine Kyes
Name of bride's parents: Dr. and Mrs. Karl Sumner Kyes
Address of bride's parents: Peterborough, New Hampshire
Name of bridegroom: John Elberfeld
Name of bridgroom's parents: Rev. and Mrs. Samuel Elberfeld
Address: Boston, Massachusetts
Wedding took place at: Unitarian Church, Peterborough, New Hampshire
Date and hour: July 8, 1939 4:30 o'clock
Full name of Clergyman and church: Rev. Samuel Elberfeld, Rev. Richard Allen Day
Bride given in marriage by: Father - Dr. Karl Sumner Kyes
Decorations: Flowers at front of church
Description of bride's gown, veil and flowers: White Shadow moussline de soie, train, long veil with pearl cap, shower bouquet
Maid of Honor-name and description of gowns and flowers: Miss Katherine Carr of Lyons, New York
Peach net - puff sleeves and full skirt Old fashioned bouquet
Bridesmaids: names and description of gown and flowers: Miss Mary Longley of Peterborough, New Hampshire - Yellow gown; Miss Ann Kelly of Rochester, New York, Blue Gown
Name of best man: Mr. Frank Elberfeld (brother of the groom)
Ushers: Mr. Howard Sayles, Mr. Richard Elberfeld, Mr. George Elberfeld, Mr. Charles Engval and Mr. Brainerd of Rochester, New York
Brides mother wore: Rose lace
Bridegroom's mother wore: Blue lace
Description of Reception and Place: Large reception in Parrish House of Church immediately following ceremony

MEMOIR OF A RETIRED COLLEGE DEAN
by
JOHN ELBERFELD
1981

My father graduated from Meadville Theological School (now part of the University of Chicago) with all A's. He then did a year of graduate work at Harvard.

Mother graduated from the Conservatory of Music in Quincy, Illinois, where she majored in voice.

My mother and father met when Daddy was the Unitarian Minister in Quincy, Illinois and mother was the paid soloist of the church. Mother, whose family were devoted Baptists, greatly upset the family by marrying a Unitarian Minister. Her mother did not attend the wedding on July 12, 1901. but was completely reconciled after my birth.

My parents moved from Quincy to Buffalo, New York where I was born on April 27, 1903. Daddy had a job with an Incubator Company as a public re-lations man.

When I was about six months old , we moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee where we lived near Uncle Norman Elberfeld for about six months. Uncle Norman was the famous big league baseball player, "Kid" Elberfeld, also known as THE TABASCO KID.

We then moved to Danvers, Massachusetts, where Daddy was the Unitarian
* Minister and the chaplain of the Danvers State Mental Hospital. My brother W Frank was born in Danvers on March 8, 1905.

The next move was to Hyde Park, Massachusetts where Daddy was the Unitarian Minister. Everywhere we lived, Mother was the soloist and sang for weddings, funerals and all sorts of functions. It is here that I begin to have some memories.

Mother was ironing in the kitchen with the window open when we put some peanuts on the window sill. A squirrel came right into the kitchen to eat them!

One night we had some special company for dinner and were having roast chicken. The chicken must have been an old hen, because when Daddy started to carve it, the chicken was so tough that it slipped off the platter into the lap of the company.

It was in Hyde Park that I said my first poem at a Sunday School entertainment, Here it is:
I am a little curly head ,
My father is the preacher.
I love to go to Sunday School,
Just to tease my teacher!

While in Hyde Park, my father was elected to the Board of Directors of the local YMCA. When the National YMCA organization learned of the fact that he was a Unitarian Minister, they told the local "Y" he would have to resign or the local ~'Y" would be dropped from the national organization. That attitude changed radically over the years, as shown by the fact that I was a certified YMCA Secretary for many years, and I, too, was ~ Unitarian.

When I was five years old, the family took a trip to Cincinnati, Ohio to visit the many Elberfeld relatives (10 children in my father's family!), Three vivid memories of that trip stand out,. It was the first and only time that I saw my grandmother and grandfather Elberfeld. My cousin, Ethel Branch, had a Shetland pony and she took us for a ride in the little pony cart. We later had Patsy on the farm in Charlestown, New Hampshire. One night the air was full of fireflies. Ethel, Frank and I filled glass jars with them to make lanterns.

After Cincinnati, Mother, Frank and I went on to Quincy, Illinois to visit my grandmother, and grand-stepfather Bourne. The only memory I have of that visit was the time Frank and I found some old paint cans and really messed up our clothes. I don't know who was the main influence, but we never got a spanking.

When I was five years old, we moved to Charlestown, New Hampshire, a beautiful little town of 600 people on the Connecticut River. We lived right in town for a few months. While there, I was digging in the back yard where I made a great discovery. I found a piece of coal, and all excited rushed in to tell Mother that I had found a coalmine!

Our next move was to SKY FA1~N in Charlestown. It was a 275-acre farm located five miles from town. The nearest house was a mile away in one direction, and ten miles in the other. There was no telephone, so Daddy put in a mile of poles so that we could get onto a 24 party line!

For awhile, our only means of transportation was Patsy, the Shetland pony from Cincinnati. Soon we had an old horse named Aunt Mary, after Aunt Mary Maag, Mother's sister. Daddy bought two little lambs for Frank and me. They were very playful and would come a~ butt us. The only trouble was, they grew faster than we did, but still liked to butt us, which got to be painful!

We had a large pair of oxen, named Dick and Buck, to do most of the farm work. One time the hired man took a load of hay to town. and came back in the evening, a two and a half hour trip. He went to sleep and woke up about two o'clock in the morning to find the oxen had located a good hay field and were having a good meal.

Before we got the telephone, Mr. Swan, who owned Swan's Hotel, drove into the yard one day very much disturbed. He thought something had happened to Daddy because he had not shown up at church to preach. Daddy had lost track of the days and thought it was Saturday!

We had an old fox hound named Sanko. He loved to go to church and start a fuss with Lizzie Webber's Airedale. As a result, we tied him up on Sunday mornings. Being a very smart dog, he would disappear on Saturday, and then show up in church on Sunday.

When I was about seven, Mother, Frank and I went to visit Mother's cousin, Alf Holton, in Brooklyn, New York over Christmas. I was given some salted peanuts and I offered some to an Aunt. She refused because she had just brushed her teeth. I could not imagine anyone refusing salted peanuts for any reason.
While we were in Brooklyn, Mother became sick, so two elderly Aunts took care of Frank and me. They took us to a show at the Hypodrome where a train went across the stage and an airplane flew over the stage. They had a large pool on the stage out of which girls with wings came and flew over the stage. They then took us to see my first movie. There was a cowboy and Indian show and a movie of a submarine. The really big thing the Aunts did was to take us to the Bronx Zoo. I do not know how they did it, but they got us into the cages to feed the hippopotamus and the ele-phant. To top it all off, a keeper took us in a back room with Blondie, a famous chimpanzee. He did all sorts of things for us, including picking out a key and opening a door.

While we lived in Charlestown, Daddy worked hard to get the town to establish a High School, which did happen.

I went to a two room school in North Charlestown which was five miles from the farm. I did not start school until I was seven because Daddy and Mother felt I was too young to make the trip, In the spring and fall, I walked about a mile along an old grass covered road. I was then picked up by the small kid-team (buggy or sleigh) along with a second kid. This took us two miles to an old grist mill where we got on the big kid-team for the last two miles. The big kid-team in summer was a hay wagon with plank seats along the sides; in winter it was a logging sled with planks for seats, robes for warmth and straw on the floor. Grades 1-4 were in one room, and 5-8 in the other. The teacher taught art and music as well as the other subjects. The school was a beautifully built stone building and it looks as good today as it did then. I feel that having four grades in one room was a help to me because I could learn with the upper classes.

Unitarian ministers seldom stayed in one place more than three to five years. Either the congregation tired of the minister, or the minister tired of the congregation. Our next move was to Pepperill, Massachusetts where we lived for a few months while Daddy candidated for a new church. It was a very rough time because Daddy even worked as a grave digger to earn enough money to feed us. A life saver was winning a barrel of flour at a church supper by making the closest estimate of the number of beans in a glass jar.

We next moved to Peterborough, New Hampshire where Daddy became the minister of a beautiful Bulfinch style church. We lived in a very large parsonage with 14 room, a large barn, and a library full of books. There are many memories of Peterborough, but I shall relate only a few of them.

We had a very large yard which became a playground for many of the town's kids. A favorite game was prisoner 's base, because we had a whole hillside to hide on across the street. There was a swimming hole about a mile away where I spent many hours learning to swim. Daddy worked hard and raised money and volunteer help to establish the Adams Playground, which included the swimming hole. In the wintertime we skated on the Contoocook River above the dam. A thrill was to skate over the RUBBER ice. This was formed when water from a tributary river flooded the ice and then froze enough to support us if we skated fast. The new ice would go up and down as if it were rubber.

Mother, because of her singing, was involved in much of the MacDowell Summer events. We had MacDowell colonists boarding at our large parsonage, and since Mother had a grand piano, there seemed always to be music.

I was always interested in science. When 1 was eleven years old, I made the first crystal radio receiver in Peterborough. By saving my money I bought a one inch spark coil so t could send code? which I learned well enough to determine the call letters of the stations I could hear. Soon after this, Davis White (later General I. D. White) also made sending and receiving sets, so we could communicate.

One way I had of earning money, was raising pigeons. I had a type of trap door in a window in a room in' the barn. The pigeons would come inside through the door to get food I placed there and not be able to escape. There was a woman in town who would buy all the squabs I could raise.

The people who lived next door to the parsonage were Dr. and Mrs. Karl S. Kyes. They had a new baby named Catherine whom they put out on OUR yard for naps in her carriage. This meant that I could not play out in our yard. Since it was not her fault, I have forgiven her. She is now Mrs. John
Elberfeld!

Being war-time, Daddy promoted the growing of potatoes among the 12 to 15 year olds. I won third prize in Hillsborough County.

Our next move was to Framingham, Massachusetts where Daddy worked for the government promoting Victory Gardens. Because of his German ancestry, he could not get a church. He tried to get a job with the Overseas YMCA but could not for the same reason. Nobody could be more AMERICAN than his mother and father. They never spoke German in their home because they wanted their children to grow up to be AMERICANS. If this were common practice, we would not need bilingual education and the country would be better off and not be a country of ethnic groups.

In Framingham we lived within a two minute walk of a pond, so I did a lot of swimming and skating. When we moved to Framingham I skipped the 7th Grade and never missed it because there is so much repetitive work in elementary grades. Here I had a Victory Garden and won first prize with
it. I was a very active Boy Scout.

My father heard about a Pre-officer Training Camp at the University of Massachusetts. Minimum age was 16, but because I was nearly 6 feet tall at age 14, he worked it so that I was accepted. It was really a rugged experience going through all the military training with 16 and 17 year olds.

In Framingham I played a lot of sandlot baseball and football. Dick (Richard Bourne) was born here on January 27, 1917.

Because of the difficulty with the German background, my folks moved back to a second farm in Charlestown, New Hampshire. I was in the 9th grade in Elementary School when I left Framingham. Since I had not had the High School subjects, I had to return to the eighth grade in Charlestown thus losing the advantage I had gained.

To keep us alive, Daddy got a job as an oiler in a factory in Springfield, Vermont at $18.00 for a six day week. He left the farm for work at 5:30 in the morning after doing some chores, and returned at 6:30 in the evening. He walked 3 miles each way. As a result, Frank and I did a lot of the farming, such as haying, plowing, cultivation planting, etc.
We had two beautiful Morgan horses which were used for farm work and driving. Both were also good saddle horses. They were sisters whose names were Kit and Topsy. Topsy and I were close friends. I could go out in the pasture and call her name and she would come to me. I could then jump on her back and ride all over with no saddle or bridle.

I was very sick with the flu in the Great Epidemic of 1918, and out of school for three weeks. When I was about to return, the school was closed for two weeks because it was so cold it could not be heated. The temp-erature never went above zero for two weeks and several nights the thermometer read 42 degrees below zero, the freezing point of mercury.

We moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts in the middle of my sophomore year in high school. I went from a school of 25 students to one of 1600 students, which was a big adjustment. Luckily I had had two excellent teachers in Charlestown. In my sophomore year they started football in Charlestown with a total of 13 boys in high school. Since I had played sandlot football in Framingham, I was elected Captain. I also played baseball in Charlestown.

The Charlestown school was three miles from home. In much of fair weather I walked, and when the horses were not in use, I rode horseback with a bag of hay tied to the saddle. In winter I drove in a small sleigh. Topsy was very fast. It has turned out that Manual Training was one of my most valuable courses.

Frank did 7th and 8th grades in a little one room schoolhouse near the farm. His teacher had just graduated from Claremont High School, but she must have been good for Frank transferred to New Bedford High School and went on to Harvard Engineering School where he went through on scholarships and made the Engineering Honor Society,

When the War ended, we moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts where Daddy was minister of the North-end church (Unitarian). I worked in a grocery and market store (Cummings and Cummings) which catered to people who spent $500.00 to $1000.00 per month on groceries in 1921. Colonel Green's bill was about $1500.00 per month. I worked every Saturday and vacations, but Mr. Cummings let me off whenever there was a ball game.

In high school, I was in the Scientific Group of about 25 who were given more advanced courses. I played basketball, baseball and football and made All-scholastic in the three sports.

I had planned to go to MIT, but my father, who was attending a program at Harvard in the summer before my senior year, visited both MIT and Harvard Engineering School, and found Harvard much more friendly. He asked me to come to Cambridge to visit both colleges. Prof. Dawes at Harvard was friendly and helpful, so I decided on Harvard, where I was accepted. (George Ross Elberfeld was born March 8, 1921 in New Bedford.)
In September 1922 I entered the Engineering School at Harvard in the Electrical Engineering Program. The only sport I could fit into my schedule was basketball which I played one year on the Freshman Team and three years on the Varsity Team. I graduated in 1926 with a BS in Electrical Engineering Degree.

I lived at college during my Freshman year because I had saved that much money. Daddy moved to the East Boston Church in the summer of 1923, so I lived at home and commuted during the next t~ years. I lived at the college again during my Senior year at Thayer, in the YARD. After my Freshman year I worked during the summer at the store in New Bedford. The next summer I worked as a camp counselor, and the third summer I worked for the New Jersey Public Service Company.

Daddy stayed in East Boston at the Church of Our Father until 1940 when he semi-retired by taking small churches in Warwick and Bernadston, Massachusetts. In 1945 the East Boston church asked him to return, he preached there until he died on April 25, 1953 at the age of 84. He never retired!

1926 was a depression year, so jobs were scarce, but my basketball got me a job as a student engineer at the General Electric Company in Lynn, Massachusetts. There I had 14 different jobs from testing motors to research and design of rectifiers. I was the captain of the CHAMPIONSHIP basketball team of the General Electric Company!

In September 1928, I left General Electric to return to the Harvard Engineering school to study Mechanical Engineering. Included in my program was a course in factory management at the Harvard Business School. Since my BS was in Electrical Engineering, I thought this degree would be a BS in Mechanical Engineering. I did not know I was to receive the MS in Mech-anical Engineering until I read it in the program at Commencement. I learned later that they had a special faculty meeting to vote me the Masters Degree. Frank also graduated with a ES in Electrical Engineering at the same time--- a BIG DAY for our parents. Frank immediately went to work for American Telephone and Telegraph Company and continued until his death on January 3, 1969.

June 1929 was again a tough time to get a job. I finally got one as an electrician's helper at the American Steel and Wire Company in Worcester, Massachusetts. I soon became the "trouble shooter" and rewound motors. The 1929 Crash came and many people were being laid off and I knew my turn would come, so I got a job with the Western Electric Company in Kearny, New Jersey as a planning engineer in August 1930. There were 83,000 people at Western Electric when I got the job, but in October 1931 when I was laid off, there were 7000 working half time. Three months later the plant was closed completely.

I was accepted in a Ph.D. program at the Harvard Engineering School, but I did not have enough money to go through with it. I decided that education would be a more stable field for me, so I went to the Harvard Graduate School of Education in the 1932 spring semester. That summer I worked as a Life Guard at Star Island in the Isles of Shoals.
I had money enough for only one course the next year, so I took the course which included practice teaching. I taught full time at Medford High School for nothing but credit for a year of EXPERIENCE!

The years from 1933 to 1937 were a hodge-podge of getting nowhere. I put my name in several employment and teachers' agencies and made the rounds about once every week. I tried for teaching jobs that paid only $600.00 a year, but there were always much more experienced applicants. In the summer of 1933, I took the Boston exams for temporary teachers and topped the PHYSICS list. The next summer I took it again and scored 396 out of 400 points to top ALL lists. This gave me part time work and one year I got a full year appointment. In the fall of 1933, I got a three month job as a recreational organizer for people over 16 years old. I worked again two summers on Star Island as Steward and as night clerk/night watchman. Other ways of earning money were repairing radios and selling magazines for Uncle Arthur Bourne, During this period, I did a lot of volunteer Social Work, After my year appointment, I bought a 23 foot sailboat for $150.00 and did a lot of sailing along the coast. I kept it at the Winthrop Yacht Club. I later sold it for $125.00 after much good sailing --- not a bad deal!

In the summer of 1933, I drove Mother and George to Quincy, Illinois to see Grandmother and Grandfather Bourne and Uncle Arthur Bourne, Uncle Arthur was entirely crippled by arthritis, but ran a very successful Magazine Agency from a wheel chair and a telephone. On the way home, we stopped in Sarnia, Ontario, CANADA to see Uncle Will Holton and Cousin Helen, and then went to Belleville, Ontario to see many Holton relatives. We finally drove home by way of Montreal and Quebec.

I had taken Economics in the Boston University Evening School during this period, also Leatherly courses in International Relations with Anton DeHass, and Monetary Problems with D.M. Sprague at the Harvard Business School. All of this got me my next job!

On a Friday afternoon in the spring of 1937, I received a telegram saying that a Dr. Ellingson would be at the Hotel Statler at 10:00 All the next day if I would be interested in teaching in Rochester, New York at the Rochester Atheneum and Mechanics Institute, I pressed my suit and went for the interview. They needed someone to teach mechanical engineering, industrial organization, and coach basketball, all of which I was prepared to do. Monday morning I received a telegram offering me the job at the unheard of salary of $1700 a year! No time was wasted in accepting the job! Nine enjoyable years were spent on that job. I coached for three years with my third year a winning season, We won nine out of fourteen games which was very good considering we were a three year cooperative school and we played only four year colleges.

From 1941 to 1945 I taught at the University of Rochester three -quarters time, teaching physics and radio engineering to the V-12 Navy students, In 1942 Harper Brothers published my first book, STRENGTH AND PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS.
Catherine Kyes had worked in the Rochester Public Library for a year
before I went to Rochester. She was the only person I knew there? so I looked her up. We were married on July 8, 1939 in Peterborough, Now Hampshire. Our honeymoon was a trip to Montreal, Quebec, up the Saguenay River, around the Gaspe Peninsula, into Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and back to Sunset Lake in Greenfield, New Hampshire, where I cooked and Catherine wrote several hundred thank you notes. That trip took my whole bank roll of $100.00! Because we slept in a tent most of the time and ate a lot of shredded wheat, we made it!

Anne Kyes Elberfeld was born on March 22, 1941, and John Karl Elberfeld (Tiny) on February 20, 1945 in Rochester,

Among other job offers was one from Worcester (Mass.) Junior College which was just opening a day division. The job was DEAN OF ENGINEERING and teaching with a salary of $700 .00 a year more than I was receiving in Rochester. We took the job partly because we would be near all of our parents who were aging, and we wanted our children to know them. We moved to Westborough, Massachusetts at 26 Grove Street, thanks to Catherine's Cousin Mary Brigham, in 1946, where we still live today. I stayed in the Worcester Junior College job until I retired in 1972, In 1948 I was promoted to DEAN OF THE COLLEGE. The college grew to 1200 day and 1500 evening students.

In August 1970, I was given the job of establishing a new bachelor degree granting college, the CENTRAL NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY. By working 60 hours per week, we opened the college in September 1971 with 51 day and about 85 evening students. I was appointed DEAN OF THE COLLEGE of the new college, and in 1972 received the first honorary degree given by the college, DOCTOR OF HUMANE LETTERS. I am in good company because Bob Hope was later given one.

In 1948 Prentice-Hall published my second book METALLURGICAL NATERIMS AND PROCESSES. Catherine did all the typing of the manuscript for this book with the background of just one half year of typing at SIMMONS SCHOOL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE. Did she ever learn accuracy and speed in a hurry!

In 1957 Catherine was cajoled into taking the job of setting up a new High School Library, Westborough's first, and then becoming the school librarian, a position she held until 1972. Meantime, in 1968 she organized and set up a second new school library in the town's latest NEW High School,

Anne graduated from High School in 1959, the top one in her class, and then went to RADCLIFFE COLLEGE where she graduated in 1963 with honors. She married Joel Anthony Huberman, who graduated Summa cum Laude from Harvard, on the Saturday after they both graduated, June 15, 1963. They spent the summer travelling in Europe and then they went to California where Joel earned his Ph.D. degree at the California Institute of Technology and Anne taught Physical Science at the Westridge School for Girls. Anne still loves teaching and is presently teaching part time at Buffalo State College where she will receive her Masters Degree in June 1981.

"Tiny' (John) started HARVARD in 1963 and graduated with honors in 1967.

He received his Masters degree from the University of Rochester in 1968 and started teaching at the Allendale School He is still there as HEAD OF THE SCIENCE DEPARTMENT.

We have all done a considerable amount of travelling. As a family, we took an 11,500 miles, 7 week trailer trip across the United States in 1955. In 1965 Catherine? "Tiny" and I took a 4,500 mile, 5 week automobile trip through 9 countries of Europe ending up in Finland with a visit with the family where "Tiny" had spent an AFS AMERICANS ABROAD summer in 1962. Since 1972, Catherine and I have taken many trips to Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Australia, and right in our good old USA.

In 1970 we bought a 22 foot McGregor VENTURE sailboat (SLOOP) on which we spend about 30 days each summer... sailing up and down the New England coast. We have also expanded the camp at Sunset Lake in Greenfield, New Hampshire. In 1965 we built and electrically heated A-frame. Two years later we built a Finish Sauna, and in 1979 we (the kids included) built a 10 ft, by 10 ft. stove heated cabin which is known as GRAMPY'S KIDS' KABIN.

Catherine and I are very lucky to have three very bright and interesting
granddaughters. "Tiny's" daughter, Heather Elizabeth Elberfeld, was born
on October 28, 1969, Anne's daughter, Julie Anne Huberman was born on February 28,
1970, and Anne's second daughter, Amy Laura Huberinan was born on December 20, 1973,

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