Pansy Marie (Bales) Reiber

Pansy Marie Bales was born in Uniontown, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, January 5, 1905. She was the first child born to James Jamar “Jim” Bales and Lydia Jane (Travis) Bales, both of whom had been born and grew up in the southwestern Pennsylvania. They met and were engaged while living in Uniontown, as there families were close neighbors. They were married in Uniontown on May 29, 1903.

Pansy’s father Jim was employed as a foundry man in a radiator factory and eventually served as a supervisor. His career field saw them move every so often as he would be tasked to help straighten out other factories. The next few decades would be one of constant movement for Pansy’s family. After being married her parents moved from Uniontown to nearby Hunker, to nearby West Newton by 1910, to Canton, Ohio, by 1915, to New Castle, Pennsylvania, by early 1919, to Utica, New York, sometime later in 1919, followed by a return to New Castle by April 1920. During this stop in New Castle they lived off of East Maitland Road out in East Brook Station.

Along the way Jim and Lydia had seven other children: Lydia Jane in May 1906, James Jamar Jr. in September 1908 (but died in 1912), Roy Kenneth in September 1911, Ray Daniel in March 1915, Clarence Paul in April 1918 (but died in 1919), John Merle in April 1920, and James Jamar Jr. in June 1922.

At while residing in the East Brook area Pansy met a local boy named Clarence Reiber, whose family had been settled in the area for some time. They were married on July 5, 1923, at the Third United Presbyterian Church in New Castle. Pansy was just eighteen years old. Her husband Clarence, at age twenty-two, was employed by the Post Office as a rural mail carrier in the area around East Brook Station. As Pansy started her own life in New Castle her parents and siblings were soon off to Baltimore, Maryland, sometime in the late 1920’s.

I believe the Clarence and Pansy lived on Dewey Avenue (off Croton Avenue) and soon started a family: Donald “Don” was born in July 1924, Clarence Jr. in September 1927, and Wanda in September 1930. They were regular parishioners and heavily involved behind the scenes at the Highland Heights United Brethren Church in northeast New Castle. Pansy started teaching Sunday school there in 1925, and Clarence served in several roles eventually becoming a deacon.

Pansy’s parents and siblings returned to New Castle about 1931-1932 and bought a house out on Route 108 past the town of Harlansburg. Lydia, Pansy’s only sister, was married while they were away in Baltimore and remained there with her new husband.

In 1933, Clarence Sr., who was reassigned to a new postal route in Union Township, moved his family out to Brest Road in Neshannock Township. Four more kids were born in the coming years: James “Jim” in June 1938, Richard in September 1940, Mary in March 1942, and Thomas “Tom” in June 1947. The same year Tom was born Clarence was reassigned to a new postal route in Neshannock Township.

The family had suffered an unfortunate tragedy in June 1939 as Pansy’s mother Lydia, at the age of fifty-five, passed away after a week-long bout with appendicitis. She was buried in West Newton Cemetery in Fayette County, where her two infant boys were buried many years prior.

Before too long Pansy’s older kids started to move and start lives of their own. Don, who had served in the U.S. Army during World War II, got married in 1947, and settled in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Clarence Jr. served a stint in the U.S. Air Force before returning home to work in the steel industry and a self-employed tree business. Wanda attended the God’s Bible College in Cincinnati, Ohio, married a preacher in 1952, and eventually settled in Indiana.

The years of strenuous foundry work took its toll on Pansy’s father Jim. His health slowly declined and he finally passed away in April 1954 at the age of seventy-three. He was buried next to his wife in West Newton Cemetery.

A few years later the younger crop of Reiber kids also started to move out. Jim joined the U.S. Army about 1957, served over twenty years until he retired in 1978, and settled in New Castle. Richard was married in 1960, went to work for AT&T as a communications technician, and settled in the New Castle area. Mary was married in 1958 and raised a family of her own in New Castle. Thomas was married in 1967 and went to work for the Pennsylvania Power Company.

Clarence Sr., after faithfully carrying the mail for forty-five years, retired from the Post Office in early December 1965 when he was sixty-five years old. He remained committed to serving the church, where Pansy continued to teach Sunday school for another ten years.

Clarence Sr. and Pansy were together for many years and on Saturday, July 23, 1973, they celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary with a gathering of family and friends at the East Brook Grange Hall. The year of 1974 was a difficult one as two sons, oldest son Don and youngest son Tom, passed away. When Pansy finally retired in 1975, at the age of seventy, she had taught Sunday school at the Highland Heights United Brethren Church for a remarkable fifty years.

They were able to enjoy a few years of full retirement before they began to decline in health. Pansy passed away upon arrival at Jamison Hospital in New Castle at 11:05pm on Thursday, April 1, 1982. She was seventy-seven years old. A viewing was held at the Tanner-Reynolds Mortuary on April 2 from 7:00-9:00pm and the next day from 2:00-4:00pm and 7:00-9:00pm. A service, presided over by Reverend Doug Barnett, was held at 2:30pm on Sunday at the Highland Heights United Brethren Church. She was buried next to her son Tom in Graceland Cemetery later the day.

Clarence Sr. passed away five months later at 1:35am on Wednesday, September 1, 1982, at the Shenango Valley Medical Center in Farrell (near Sharon). A viewing was held at the Tanner-Reynolds Mortuary later that day from 7:00-9:00pm, and the following day from 2:00-4:00pm and 7:00-9:00pm. At 1:00pm on Friday, September 3, the Reverend Doug Barnett once again presided over a service at the Highland Heights United Brethren Church. Afterwards Clarence was interred next to his wife at Graceland Cemetery.