Christopher G. Lantz 1841-1900

Christopher was the last of at least eleven children born to John and Anna (Glick). Chris entered the world on January 3, 1841. On many documents Christopher is listed as Christian, but his name is Christopher. My Grandfather, Harry Seymour told me how they use to tease him and call him Christopher Columbus. Times were changing rapidly and I believe Chris was under pressure to also change. On Christopher's grave there is a GAR marker indicating he was the first Lantz to serve in the military in support of his country. I am sure the Lantz family could have easily paid the bond necessary to keep Christopher from having to bear arms, so this is a radical change-taking place in their beliefs. Christopher married Hanna Malvina Meredith on April 10, 1859. Meredith is not a name you would normally consider being Amish, so it is very possible Christopher married outside the Amish faith. On August 17,1900 the Lord called Christopher home and he was laid to rest in the Lantz Family Cemetery outside of Thompsontown.

William Emrick Lantz
1865-1943

William was born September 26 1865 in Walker Township Juniata County Pennsylvania. William went to work for the railroad and remained with them until his retirement. He married Sarah C. Musser about 1886. One interesting note is William and Sadie both descended from the same grandparents. William descended from Jacob (1695-1742) and Barbara Yoder through their daughter Anna Yoder (1728), and Sadie or Sarah descended from their daughter Catherine Yoder (1720). William died on September 5 1943 and was buried along side his wife in Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery in Mifflintown Pennsylvania.

Harry Seymour Lantz
1892-1981

My grandfather Harry was the first ancestor in the Lantz line that I have had a personal relationship with and knowledge of. Harry was the last of my branch of Lantz's born in Juniata County Pennsylvania. He was born on October 25, 1892. Harry met my grandmother Mary Catherine Shelley of Goodville Pennsylvania and they were married about 1913. Harry followed in his father's footsteps and went to work for the railroad. I would assume that farming and the railroad were about the only choices of work in the Thompsontown area. Due to his work he followed the railroad to New Pittsburgh Ohio, and finally to the Bellevue Ohio area where the family lived through out the remainder of their lives. Death came hard for Harry and after years of suffering he succumbed to Parkinson's disease on October 1, 1981. Mary lived to be 98, but suffered severe Alzheimer's that robbed her of her family and friends. They were both laid to rest in the Restlawn Memorial Park in Huron Ohio.

Gerald William Lantz
1914-1990

My father Jerry was born September 26 ,1914 in New Pittsburgh Ohio. I could easily write and fill a book about his life. Jerry was raised in Bellevue Ohio, and met Shirley Jean VanDette, the love of his life, in Norwalk Ohio. They were soon married and took up housekeeping. Along came World War II and Jerry was inducted into the Army Air Force. He was trained as an aircraft mechanic and was stationed through out the pacific basin. As the war progressed there was a shortage of aircraft crews. To make up for the shortage they used the ground crews also as the flight crews. So Jerry would repair the aircraft and then fly the mission. On one mission he was the waist gunner on a B-25 bomber flying a mission near New Guinea. During the bomb run AAA exploded under the aircraft peppering the bomber with high velocity shrapnel. Jerry looked down on the floor and saw blood swishing back and forth and asked the other waist gunner if he was wounded. The other gunner told him no so Jerry stood up from his kneeling position and the front of his legs were soaked in blood. On landing the flight surgeon picked most of the metal out of his legs. There was no time for fan fare and Purple Hearts, he healed and returned to the war at hand. After the war Jerry made a career in the trucking industry. Doing everything from dispatching to selling parts. Later Jerry and Shirley owned a mom and pop store in Fremont Ohio until their retirement. They retired in Monroeville Ohio and Jerry passed away peacefully in his sleep on March 26 1990. He was laid to rest in Woodlawn Cemetery in Norwalk Ohio.

Gerald (Jerry) William Lantz with wife Shirley Jean (VanDette) Lantz My sister Bonnie Jean (Lantz) Carter with Me in the stroller. (I have a broken arm and leg due to a drunk pulling out in front of my grandmother at the Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, Ohio.)

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