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Work History Gallery

Amy's Story - WWI

World War I

How it Changed Our Lives for Four Years

My source was as follows, Amy wrote a letter to her daughter Mary about how Fred, her father, worked to help win the war. "It started with a casual meeting of friends. Our friend Ann Williams had a beau, in New Orleans, he was working for the purchasing office of the shipping board. He came to visit Ann in Du Bois, PA and proposed to her to marry him, she said "Yes". Ann brought him over to our house on Grant St. on a Sunday afternoon."

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Mr. Heizer talked to Fred about his job and how they were looking for experienced men that knew saw mills and lumber. Because of Fred's experience in the lumber industry, Mr. Heizer urged Fred to apply for the job. So Fred did and received a telegram, "Come to Washington D.C. at once, we can use you now." That was in the Spring of 1917, when Amy was pregnant with Sue.

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The United States Shipping Service, was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act to help stop Germans from blowing everything we put to sea - more ships to get supplies to Europe. Fred went all over the United States buying lumber from saw mills, from Maine to Oregon, from Michigan to Mississippi. William J. Haymen, per Fred, had a famous personal quality, in conversation his attention was really complimentary. In reporting to him you had his complete and absolute attention. He earnestly desired to know what you knew.

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It changed their lives, they were married April 14th, 1914 and the war started August 1st, 1914. Gretchen was born 1915 and Sue born Summer of 1917. Fred and Amy lived at the Schrecongost house in 1914 - 101 N. Main St, Du Bois, PA. While a house was built at 115 Grant St.,  Du Bois, PA for Amy, a gift from her father. They moved into the new house in 1915.

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The war ended in 1918, but Fred's work was not over. The contracts had to be completed and paid. All this huge industry was brought to an end in 1919-1920 and abolished in 1934. Its successor agencies became the U.S. Maritime Administration of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation (1981-Present).

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Fred started his own business with a partner in 1922-1933 Merrill & Patchell, selling California Red Wood and Long Leaf Yellow Pine to construction developers. Their office was located at 621 Commercial Trust Bldg., Philadelphia, PA. They bought a house in Wayne, PA from 1922-1935.

Oral Histories from Fred, Amy, and my mother Gretchen "Gret" Patchell.

Fred's remembrance of his grandfather, "He was stern and giving he left Germany because he didn't want to join the Bismarck Army. Didn't get the information I was asking about; parents and brothers or sisters."

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Amy remembers when herself and her sister Zelia were growing up, they went into the study/library after dinner and stood to request something. First Amy went and asked her father how she wanted to go to college to become a school teacher to help the poor families. Afterwards her sister did the same. Upon Amy and Zelia's college graduation they went to Europe for the Summer of 1910.

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Gretchen's memories: Her grandmother Mary Schrecongost, she was tall, thin, and stern. She came from Du Bois to Philadelphia to die, however this is not correct. She went to Aunt Lillie's, her sister-in-law and matron of honor at her wedding in New Jersey, and then came to Amy, her daughter's, rental in Atlantic City. SJ wired Amy that she was coming by train and then carriage by taxi. Amy asked her daughters Gret and Sue to watch for her, Gret 5 and Sue 4 at the time. Gret's memory of coming into her Grandmother's room and sitting with her, holding her hand. She was very sick. Gret asked her if she would be here for her birthday on February 22nd, she said she would try and she was. She died February 28th, Gret remembers going to her room, pulling down the sheet to look at her face, kissing her. She was cold. She returned the sheet.

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Growing up in Wayne, PA, one of the memories was making grape jelly. Fred had put in an arbor to support the Concord grapes. Amy and Fad, the housekeeper, were in the huge kitchen making jelly, straining the grapes through cheese cloth and sterilizing the jars. The house had a wonderful smell of the grapes.

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They were one of the houses at the time to have electric lights, indoor plumbing, and a coal furnace. Gret remembers sneaking down the back stairs during the holidays to go into the pantry and cut off slices of fruit cake until it was gone. Amy had the children set on the chairs, asking who ate it. Gret admitted, and was punished, but couldn't remember what it was.

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During the winter time with a lot of snow, Gret remembers her father, Fred, making wooden sleds with steel runners and hooked them to the car, driving up and down the street with the children having a grand time. For the holidays, they put up holly wreathes on the front door and draped holly on the mantle with the nativity display and put up stockings. The Christmas tree was put up on the 24th with electric lights and the presents were put around the tree late at night so the morning was a treat.

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The older girls, Gret and Sue, began to doubt the story of Santa Claus. Fred was building doll cribs, chest of drawers, chairs and wagons, and told them they were for poor children, then they would show up under the Christmas tree. Gret got the chest of drawers, Sue's was the doll crib, Mary got the doll chair, and John got the wagon. They tried to stay up all night to see Santa Claus, but by morning they began to get the connection.

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If the kids did their chores and were good all summer they would get bikes. One day Sue was grounded in her room. Gret and Barbara Wetzel needed Sue, they wanted to go to the movies together. So they decided to go get this long rope, tied it around her waist, and lowered her from the second floor to the ground. As she was being lowered past the huge dining room window, there was Fad, the housekeeper, working in the dining room. Gret never got her bike while the rest of the kids did, and she never forgot it.

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Another adventure was "parachuting" - Gret and Sue got a huge umbrella and tied their brother Johnny to it, dropping him off of the tree house, he floated down. Gret tried it but fell and hit hard. They needed a bigger parachute, so they got a big sheet and tied a rock to it and dropped it - it went straight down. Their next try was from the second story of the house, but decided it wouldn't work. Gret was 10 and Sue was 8.

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Another summer - Gret and Mary got a skin disorder (Epintiago) and were quarantined in their rooms for a month. They finally got to go on a picnic in Shanksville - Mini night county. Gret was canoeing on the lake but needed to use the bathroom, she parked her canoe and went up the green bank and behind a tree. She got poison ivy all over and for another month was quarantined to her room. She was promised she could go to the picnic place again but school had started.

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The children and parents read the classics, went to movies and went to lectures. They heard and saw Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt and Albert Epstein at Bryn Mara College. They went to see the Hindenburg in New Jersey but it didn't come in that day, and they couldn't come back to see it the next day. You know what happened that next day.

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A music memory - meeting Leopold Tchaikovsky and walked them to the train station. He gave the children concerts in Philly for Gret, Sue, and friend Virginia Copland.

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Pet memory - they had a dog named Pan who was a smooth coat Airedale Terrier, a white cat with green eyes, and Sue had a talking green parrot. Gret liked to show off the parrot with her friends and would pull its tail to get it to talk.

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Growing up and dealing with conflicts and various issues. One that stayed with all of the children was that Amy favored Sue over the rest. From Amy's letters to her mother, Sue was an easy, happy baby and toddler, Gret was not. But the letter to Amy from her mother that she was being too hard on Gret and it was beginning to show because Gret had told her that "They liked Sue better than me", and she was only 2 years old.

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Between Fred and Amy they had a secret code: MOT. It meant: Magic of Together.

Genealogy Snapshot

Frederick Ernest Patchell

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Birth: 1 March, 1887 Du Bois, PA

Married: 14 April, 1914  St. Paul Lutheran, Du Bois, PA

Death: 1 March, 1983, 96 years old, Granada Hills Comm. Hospital, Granada Hills, Los   Angeles County, CA. Virginia A. Adams held his hand until death.

Buried: 3 March, 1983  Cremation and ashes in the Pacific Ocean, Neptune Society, CA

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Residence: Hollywood Hills, CA 1962 - 1972 and 1974 - 1978 14 years, Hazeltine Ave., Van Nuys, CA 1978 - 1983 5 years

Occupation:

  • Lumber Clerk, Du Bois Lumber Co.

  • Grocery Store Manager, Schrecongost Store

  • WWI was employed by the United States Shipping Board 1916-1919, Washington D.C.

  • Merrill & Patchell, Philadelphia, PA 1922-1935

    • Self Employed with partner, sold lumber by railroad cars of California Redwood and Long Leaf Yellow Pine to builders.

  • Karns & Schrecongost Oil Producers 1929-1935

  • Patchell & Schafer Oil Drillers, Self Employed with Schafer for 25 years.

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Father: Frank Patchell, Houlton, ME

Mother: Mary Elizabeth Zierdan, St. George, N.B. Canada

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Amy Schrecongost

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Birth: 14 April 1887, Du Bois, PA

Married: 14 April 1914  St. Paul Lutheran, Du Bois, PA

Church: Hollywood Lutheran Church, Hollywood, CA

Death: 10 August 1974, 87 years old, Highland House Heathcare, Highland, San Bernardino, CA.

Burial: 14 August 1974, Cremation. Mt. View Crematory, Tillie's Memorial Chapel, Ashes in the Pacific Ocean, Neptune Society, CA.

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Residence: Robinson, IL 1935 - 1962 27 years, Hollywood Hills, CA 1962 - 1972 10 years

  • Fred and Amy were living at Sue's cabin in Big Bear, CA when she had her heart attack and suffered from a brain bleed. It took them 2 hours to get off of the mountain for medical help.

Occupation:

  • Kindergarten teacher in Pittsburgh 1910-1914

  • Housewife, mother and caregiver 1914 until death

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Father: Samuel Johnson Schrecongost, Dayton, Armstrong, PA

Mother: Margaret MB Mary Rupp, Dayton, Armstrong, PA

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4 Children:

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Gretchen Patchell -- Feb. 22, 1915 - Dec. 18, 2008

Sue Patchell -- July 2, 1917 - Oct. 11, 1985

Mary Patchell -- Dec. 24, 1919 - Feb. 18 1996

John Patchell -- Sept. 21, 1922 - May 31, 2014

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Gretchen Patchell

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Birth: 22 February, 1915, Du Bois, PA

Married:

  1. 11 August, 1945, Quantico, VA, Omer C. Adams

  2. 1 September, 1972, Las Vegas, NV, Irving F. Arthur

Death: 18 December, 2008 West Hills Hospital, West Hills, Los Angeles Co., CA

Burial: Cremation by the Neptune Society, 22 December, 2008. Remains shipped to daughter, Virginia Wissusik. Buried 23 April, 2010 Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, CA. Sgt. Gretchen Patchell Adams Arthur, Buried in a memorial wall by the Marine Corps with Full Military Honors, Lutheran service by Naval Chaplain Rev. John Rinaldi.

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Suzannah "Sue" Patchell

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Birth: 2 July, 1917, Du Bois, PA

Married:

  1. 25 July, 1949, Mexico, Vernon F. Duckett. Witness - Jane Renner of marriage, per an oral history from Aunt Jane and photos with Capt. Adams and wife, Sue's parents Fred and Amy Patchell, San Diego, CA. Divorced - 1953

  2. 1976, Los Angeles, CA, Lugia R. Rotello

Death: 11 October, 1985, St. Joseph Hospital, Burbank, CA. Ashes sent to Damon

Burial: Acton, CA on son Damon Duckett's 20 acres.

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Mary Patchell

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Birth: 24 December, 1919, Du Bois, PA

Married:

  1. 10 June, 1942, Alva Burdette Melton  - Died 15 March, 1962

  2. 22 December, 1967, Charles Van Ark, Divorced - 8 February, 1972

Death: 18 February, 1996

Burial: Pilgrim Home Cemetery, Holland, MI

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John Patchell

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Birth: 21 September, 1922, Du Bois, PA

Married:

  1. 1946, Jody Decker

  2. 1 April, 1956, Mary V. Woods

Death: 31 May 2014, Springfield, MO

Burial: 3 June, 2014, Springfield, MO

Note: His full name is Samuel Johnson Patchell after his grandfather Samuel Johnson Schrecongost.

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Grandchildren

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Rex Melton -- 9 September, 1944

Virginia Amy Adams-Wissusik -- 9 May, 1946

Brenda Melton-Williams -- 14 December, 1946

Gray Patchell -- 14 March, 1947

Rebecca "Becky" Patchell -- 9 June, 1949

Damon Tye, P. Duckett -- 12 February, 1950 - 11 June, 2000

Mickey S. Patchell -- 28 January, 1957

Virginia "Jenny" Patchell -- 30 May, 1964

Amy Jo Patchell -- 22 February, 1971

Frederick "Johnie" Patchell -- 30 May, 1973

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