St. John's Church
Mt. Aetna, Berks County, PA
View of St. John's from the far end of the cemetery
(photo taken 25 September 2010 by Karen Fox)
St. John's Church is a small intimate country church. It was originated as a Protestant Reformed Congregation, and for many years was associated with the United Church of Christ. In 2003, it elected to become an independent, non-denominational Christian Church. This was the church of my paternal family for five generations.
Buried in the adjoining church cemetery are
- my gr-gr-grandparents, Nathan and Elizabeth (Achenbach) Gruber
- my gr-grandparents, T.(Thomas) Henry and Mary E. (Gruber) DeHart
- my grandparents, Earl L. and Ada M. (DeHart) Yohn
- my father, John Henry Yohn
- I [Karen M. (Yohn) Fox] was baptized as an infant in St. John's Church in 1958.
In addition, many extended family members were baptized, confirmed, married and/or buried at St. John's.
Interior view of St. John's sanctuary taken from rear right corner
(Photo taken 25 September 2010 by Karen Fox)
As a child I have many memories of visiting the cemetery to place flowers on my grandparents' grave (they both passed before I was born). When I'd see a familiar last name or an interesting looking tombstone, I'd always pester my father with questions - "Who is that? Tell me about them!". He'd do his best, even if it belonged to a stranger. As I grew older, I saw the empty spaces in the cemetery slowly start to fill with relatives I knew and loved - my many gr-aunts and gr-uncles, my own aunts and uncles, my father's cousins, and then my father joined them. Visiting that cemetery is visiting my childhood.
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