Memories of My Mother
(written Jan. 20, 2005)
By Dr. Penn P. Shelley
My mother was a unique person. The second oldest of four siblings, she grew up in rural Juniata County, Pennsylvania. Her father was a farmer and her mother became an invalid from rheumatoid arthritis at an early age and was confined to a wheelchair. She helped care for her mother for many years until she died. Her family home was destroyed twice by fire. Despite all this, she attended Susquehanna University and Millersville University, where she earned her teaching certificate. She taught in Chester, PA and Juniata and Mifflin Counties for several years. We have a photo of her riding on a pony to teach school in Milford Township.
My mother and father were married on May 23, 1930 in Brooklyn, NY, by a friend of the family, Luther Woodward, a Lutheran minister. They honeymooned in Boston and other parts of New England. I was born April 10, 1931 in the family home in Port Royal. My mother helped my father with his medical practice when not attending to me. We had a live-in housekeeper during many of these years.
Mother took me on many trips during my early childhood including the NJ seashore (Sea Isle City with cousins Jean and Shelley Smith), and the 1940 NY World's Fair. While in New York we attended a baseball doubleheader in the Polo Grounds in the Bronx to see the NY Giants play the St. Louis Cardinals. (I have been an avid Giants fan ever since!) We also had several weekend trips in the 1940's to Philadelphia to see the Phillies play the Giants.
After I moved to NJ in 1961, Dee and I were married, our three sons (Scott, Mark & Doug) were born, and we made many trips to visit mother. The Clark and Smith families joined us on several occasions. At Easter time mother loved to dye Easter eggs and we would have an Easter eqqhunt in her yard. After church she would prepare a delicious dinner of roasted or fried chicken and all the trimmings, followed by dessert of home made pie or her famous apple crisp, which our three sons loved.
Mother would drive her 1968 Cadillac from Port Royal to Chatham, NJ to visit us once or twice a year. The distance was 185 miles, she was in her mid-eighties, and how she made the trip without an accident is a miracle. She wasn't the best driver. (Ask Penn about the U-turn on the George Washington Bridge, on a Friday afternoon during rush hour traffic.) She found an antique shop in NJ that she used to visit on her way. When Mother arrived her car was filled with newspapers from Juniata County, gifts including candy for our three sons (whom she loved) and an article from her home "collectibles" for us.
Mother had many interests which kept her busy and active. She belonged to the Daughters of the American Revolution, and attended several national conventions in Washington DC with friends; the Juniata County Historical Society where she sought to preserve many of Juniata County's historical properties; the Juniata-Mifflin county Art Association, which enabled her talent for painting to flourish (she painted hundreds of paintings, most of which our family still possesses); the Port Royal Presbyterian Church where she sang in the choir and belonged to the Fidelis Missionary Society; she sponsored orphaned children with her financial aid; and finally the Port Royal Book Club.
Mother loved to attend home auctions and rarely missed one. She always bought several items and would need help from a friend with a pickup truck to bring the things to her home which hardly had any space for them. I used to think her purchases were mostly junk but when she entered Brookline at age 90 and her home had to be dealt with, three auctions other collections brought thousands of dollars. Our family has several of her antiques in our homes. Lastly Mother loved to attend weddings and funerals. She always wore a beautiful hat and was known as "the hat lady."
She entered Brookline Assisted Care Facility in 1993 at age 90 when an auto ran into her home and left a large opening in the front of the house during a very cold December in 1992. The house had to be vacated for repairs and mother entered Brookline. It was a blessing in disguise because her ability to care for herself in her big two-story home was difficult. She outlived several of her roommates in Brookline. She was transferred to the Manor in 1998 after a fall. She received wonderful care by Brookline personnel, who said she never complained. When they tried to dress her in casual clothes she became upset and thereafter she dressed with her usual elegant blouses, skirts, and sweaters.
Mother truly was a very unique lady who will always be remembered for her patience, kindness, and helping others.
Contributed by mkinney on 9/6/10 - Image Year: 1902
Walter McCahan, Laentena Shelley, Rhoda Kepner (Brother and sisters)
Contributed by rkohler3 on 8/21/10 - Image Year: 1922
LAENTENA and her MIFFLINTOWN HIGH SCHOOL CLASS of 1922: Front Row (l-r) Fannie Herr, LAENTENA MCCAHAN SHELLEY, Minnie Rapp, Carl Kauffman, Dot Emerick, Thelma Parnell, Bertha Walters; 2nd Row: Paul Benner, Verna Pannebaker, Bob Arnold, Flo Mingle, Sam Mitterling, Kitty Helwig; 3rd Row: Witmer Kelley, Elizabeth Neely, Don Roush, Helen Crawford, Elizabeth Nelson, Mildred Ernest, Bill Lewis; 4th Row: Helen Stoner, Harold Keppler, Harry Swartz, Edith Pannebaker
Contributed by rkohler3 on 8/20/10 - Image Year: 1923
MILLERSVILLE COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM (abt 1923)
Laentena McCahan Shelley (front left), Gertrude Kaup (front right)
Contributed by rkohler3 on 8/20/10 - Image Year: 1925
Laentena McCahan and her mother, Annie Elizabeth (Oberholtzer) McCahan. The photo was taken at the family home next to the Sixth Street entrance to the Juniata County Fairgrounds.
(Photo submitted by Penn Purcell Shelley)
Contributed by rkohler3 on 8/20/10 - Image Year: 1925
STUDENTS AT SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY (1925 OR 26)
Font Row: (l-r) Gertrude Kamp (McKee), Laentena McCahan, Betty Eichelberger; Back Row: (l-r) Roger Blough (he would eventually become President of US Steel Corp.), Lester Lutz (cousin of Betty).
Contributed by mkinney on 9/6/10 - Image Year: 1937
The children of Laentena Shelley, Rhoda Kepner and Mary McCahan playing in the fairgrounds (from left)
Earl Kepner, Ralph Kepner, Charles McCahan, Mary McCahan, Penn Shelley, Joy Sheaffer, Keith McCahan, Laentena Shelley
Contributed by rkohler3 on 8/20/10 - Image Year: 1948
Laentena (McCahan) Shelley with her dog "Major" (Boston Terrier) behind the Shelley home on Main Street of Port Royal, PA.
(Photo submitted by Penn Purcell Shelley)
