John Franklin Tobias
MILLERSBURG • John Franklin Tobias, 87, passed away peacefully May 19, 2020, at Premier at Susquehanna in Millersburg where he was a resident for two years.
“Toby” was born Aug. 12, 1932, in Gowen City, the second son of Ira Sylvester and Edna Pauline (Oxenrider) Tobias.
March 19, 1955, he married Myrna Loy Dobson in Hagerstown, Md.
He attended Pine Park School in Leck Kill and was a 1950 graduate of Mahanoy Joint High School, Dalmatia.
One project in high school included raising a piglet and entering it in the Farm Show competition. Having not completed the paperwork required, Toby and his buddy, Glenn Masser, made up the information on the drive to Harrisburg. Since it was quite a distance, they stayed overnight and slept in the pig stalls with their entries. Toby was proud of his pig’s last-place finish at the Farm Show.
He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force the day after his high school graduation and served four years, being honorably discharged from Limestone Air Force Base in Maine. He had to hitchhike home to Pennsylvania and was lucky to get rides that brought him home in just one day.
As a veteran, he served American Legion Post No. 504 as a member of the Honor Guard and was also a member of Gratz VFW Post No. 2385.
Toby’s early work history was very colorful, including working as a bootleg miner alongside his father and older brother, Merl. One of his tasks at the mine was to get Jack, the mule, to go down into the mine. Jack did not like his ears to touch the top of the shaft and had to be coaxed.
In 1960, Toby and Myrna relocated to Iroquois Road in Levittown, Pa., with their two oldest daughters, where they lived for 10 years before moving back to Leck Kill. While living in Levittown, he worked for Standard Press Steel in Jenkintown. After returning to Leck Kill, he retired from Gilford Mills, Pine Grove . He was a member of Christ E & R Church, Leck Kill; Alvin E Long Post No. 504 America Legion, Herndon; Diamond Jubilee VFW Post No. 2385, Gratz; and was a lifetime member of both the Herndon Fire Company and Erdman Sportsmens Club.
Surviving are daughters and sons-in-law, Roxie and Chuck Rothermel of Herndon; Patty and Bill Leeser of Pillow and Mary Anne Troutman of Red Cross; grandchildren, Steven Rothermel, Chris Leeser, Sheri and Jarrod Shadle, Mitchell Troutman and Cody Troutman; great-grandchildren, Angel, Caleb, Kayleigh, Zandra and Kinsley; also, his siblings, Martha (Robert) Erdman of Herndon, Mary Snyder of Dornsife and Marvin (Brenda) Tobias of Pitman.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by Myrna, his wife of 38 years, and his granddaughter Bethany (his Tater) Troutman. Also, brother, Merl Tobias, and sister, Betty Paul. Services will be private at the convenience of the family. Internment will be at St. John’s Cemetary, Leck Kill. “Click”
Paid by funeral home