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| Record Creator: | Withers, Ethel Suzy Weisz |
| Title: | Ethel Suzy Weisz Withers Papers |
| Date Span: | 1958-1984 |
| Abstract: | Ethel Suzy Weisz Withers (1902-1992), a deaconess in the United Methodist Church, was born in Butler County, Pennsylvania, to John Ziegler Weisz and Martha M. Reader Weisz. In 1924, Ethel graduated from the Kansas City National Training School and held appointments as a Parish Deaconess in various locations from 1924-1954 until her marriage in 1954 to Rev. Robert Blackwood Withers (1894-1979). This collection contains eight journals dating from April 1958 through May 1984. These entries include records of baptisms, weddings, deaths, church attendance, and church membership. Ethel’s early journals serve as a simple log of her daily commitments but over time the entries become more detailed, providing an image of Ethel’s personal opinions and the typical activities of a minister’s wife in the 1950s-1980s. |
| Extent: | 0.45 cubic feet |
| Identification: | gcah.ms.5667 |
Ethel Suzy Weisz Withers (1902-1992), a deaconess in the United Methodist Church, was born in Butler County, Pennsylvania, to John Ziegler Weisz, a former Mennonite, and Martha M. Reader Weisz, a Methodist. In 1924, Ethel graduated from the Kansas City National Training School. She held appointments as a Parish Deaconess in the First Methodist Episcopal Church in New Castle, Pennsylvania (1924), in Picher, Oklahoma (1930-1932), and Bridgeport, Oklahoma (1932-1936), before moving to Bingham Canyon, Utah (1936-1940) and then serving thirteen years as a Deaconess and Parish Worker at Epworth-Euclid Methodist Church in Cleveland, Ohio (1941-1954). In 1954, Ethel married Reverend Robert Blackwood Withers (1894-1979) and served alongside him in various churches in Pennsylvania including the Stoneboro United Methodist Church (1951-1956), Christ Methodist Church in New Castle (1956-1959), and Fredonia/Big Bend Methodist Church (1959-1966). Upon Robert’s retirement from the Fredonia Church in 1966, he served as a visitation pastor for the Sharon First Methodist Church. After her husband Robert’s death in March 1979, Ethel traveled in England (1979), Israel (1981) and Alaska (1984). In October 1984, Withers joined the Brooks-Howell retirement community in Asheville, North Carolina.
This collection contains eight journals of Ethel Suzy Weisz Withers, dating from April 1958 through May 1984. These entries include records of baptisms, weddings, deaths, church attendance, and church membership. Daily entries also include a list of Ethel’s daily calls, hospital visitations, attendance at conferences, and various personal appointments. The first entries in 1958 serve as a simple log of Ethel’s daily commitments but over time the entries become more detailed and an image comes together of Ethel’s personal opinions and experiences. Some journals also contain itemized lists of church related expenses and record of the Withers’ monthly income.
Journal 1: Entries range from April 3, 1958 to September 4, 1963. In 1959, Ethel’s journal entries begin to be more discursive. The 1960 entries become more regular compared to the sporadic entries from 1958 and give a greater sense of Ethel’s daily tasks and domestic life. During her vacations, Ethel typically suspends her record, such as her entry for her 1962 “Trip to the West” from July 2 to September 3 which merely provides a list of the states they crossed. The journal then resumes on September 4. The entry for September 30, 1961 is followed by a page blank on one side and then seven pages of entries ranging from April 1958 through September 1959. These pages contain entries of various church related expenses. Regular journal entries resume on October 1, 1961. Another gap in entries occurs between June 24, 1963 and August 15, 1963.
Journal 2: Entries range from March 1, 1964 to March 31, 1968. It is notable that Ethel’s entries become more extensive as she inserts more of her personal opinions into the text, using more descriptive adjectives, and thus providing a rich level of detail largely absent from her previous journal. There are several gaps in entries in this journal. First, from July 29 through July 22, 1964 with the note “See Trip Book.” Second, from September 27 through October 2, 1964 with the note “Our trip to New Hampshire.” Third, from July 12 through August 4, 1965, with the note “See Travel Logue.” Fourth, from July 6, 1967 until August 28, 1967. Fifth, there is a one year gap in entries from April 19, 1966 to April 13, 1967. The intermediary pages contain the Withers’ income records from August 1966 through March 1968 and expenses from October 1966 through May 1968. This journal also includes a 1967 Hallmark Date Book.
Journal 3: Entries range from April 1, 1968 to June 30, 1969. The last pages of this journal contain itemized lists of the Withers' earnings in October 1968.
Journal 4: Entries range from July 1, 1969 to December 31, 1971. A loose page inserted into the front of this journal contains a chart titled “1968 Income Tax Details” containing a breakdown of the Withers’ financial information including income and various itemized expenses. The last pages of this journal include lists of the Withers’ income in 1969, 1970 and 1971 with separated data for Robert and Ethel.
Journal 5: Entries range from January 1, 1971 to December 31, 1974. The last pages of this journal include lists of the Withers’ income in 1972 through 1974 with separated data for Robert and Ethel. The last page of this journal also includes a record of a property sale in 1972.
Journal 6: Entries range from November 1, 1977 to September 30, 1979. Ethel writes very detailed entries in February and March of 1979 concerning Robert’s declining health until his death on March 12 at age 85. The final pages of this journal contain income records from 1978-1979.
There are also several letters included in this journal which are located in the folder following the journal. Typed Letter from Dwight M. Bittner, Treasurer for the Western Pennsylvania Conference, dated March 23, 1979, expressing condolences, ensures Ethel that she will continue to receive health insurance coverage, and encloses a check for the Death Benefit Program. Typed Letter from Robert C. Hicks of the Presbyterian Ministers’ Fund dated April 5, 1979, concerning the “Death Claim-Robert Blackwood Withers” and enclosing a check in full settlement of all claims. Typed Letter from Vernon A. Sladek of the General Board of Pensions, dated May 24, 1979, explaining the details of Robert’s monthly pension and policy for reporting income for tax purposes.
Journal 7: Entries range from October 1, 1979 to December 29, 1981. The entries from October 13 through 28, 1979 describe Ethel’s travels in the south of England including visits to London, Stratford-upon-Avon, Bath, and Cambridge. There is a gap in entries between February 4 and March 24, 1981 with the note, “February 5 to March 23 in Travel Book.” There is a second gap in entries between July 20 and September 1, 1981. The last page of this journal details Ethel’s income from October 1979 through April 1980.
Journal 8: Entries range from August 1, 1983 to May 16, 1984. Journal entries cease rather abruptly on May 16. In her entry on May 14, Ethel mentions that she is packing and explains that a load has already been moved. She became a resident at Brooks-Howell on October 2, 1984.
Materials have been arranged in the following manner.
basic
When citing material from this collection please use the following format: Direct reference to the item or its file folder, Ethel Suzy Weisz Withers Papers, United Methodist Church Archives - GCAH, Madison, New Jersey. Do not make use of the item's call number as that is not a stable descriptor.
There are no restrictions on this collection.
Detailed use restrictions relating to our collections can be requested from the office of the archivist at the General Commission on Archives and History. Photocopying is handled by the staff and may be limited in certain instances. Before using any material for publication from this collection a formal request for permission to publish is expected and required.
| Call Number | Folder Title | Date(s) |
| 1599-3-2: 1 | Journal 1 |
1958-1963 |
| 1599-3-2: 2 | Journal 2 |
1964-1968 |
| 1599-3-2: 3 | Journal 2 - Loose Documents |
1965-1970 |
| 1599-3-2: 4 | Journal 3 |
1968-1969 |
| 1599-3-2: 5 | Journal 4 |
1969-1971 |
| 1599-3-2: 6 | Journal 4 - Loose Documents |
1968 |
| 1599-3-2: 7 | Journal 5 |
1972-1974 |
| 1599-3-2: 8 | Journal 6 |
1977-1979 |
| 1599-3-2: 9 | Journal 6 - Loose Documents |
1979 |
| 1599-3-2: 10 | Journal 7 |
1979-1981 |
| 1599-3-2: 11 | Journal 8 |
1983-1984 |
