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Note: He was born in his parents' home in Quakake on Jones Street, the youngest of five brothers and a sister, the oldest sibling, who had passed away six years before his birth. Howard was a good provider and hard worker. His daughter Jean Evelyn Ritter (nee Brobst) wrote of him that he, "always made sure that there was food on the table, clothes on our back and we never went cold. He held a job at the Atlas Powder Company at Reynolds, PA (near South Tamaqua) and he always shoed up for work. I can remember him working when he was very ill at times. In those days if you didn't work, you didn't eat." Howard impressed upon his kids the importance of being honest and sticking to the Ten Commandments. He had also passed down his ablility to "tie the best knot that there is" to his daughter and taught her how to drive when she was 16, driving her up to Hazleton to take the driver's test. He apparently didn't let the kids help him with much as he was inclined to tell them to stay put until he completed doing whatever it was he was doing. Howard had what his daughter characterized as an "amazing love" for his mother. He would tell his daughter Jean stories about how his mother Dora would show her love to her children - her baking, her nursing abilities, handling of money, helping her children from the money she made on her investments, etc. Jean loved to hear his father's praise for her and be so thankful for her life. His daughter Jean also recalled Howard owned a 1930s model Pontiac with a back rumble seat. Jean loved to sit back in the rumble seat with her friends and feel the wind blow through their hair. Howard worked "at the Atlas Powder Co and later ICI for a few years. He worked over 40 years at the same place." SOURCE: Ritter, Jean Evelyn (nee Brobst); Transcribed to electronic file by daughter Jeanne (Ritter) Damon, Grandmother�s memories to her grandchild, (Completed 2002 for Cassandra (Cassy) Emily Damon. Transcribed Aug. 20, 2007 to Word file <Grandmothers_memories_to_grandchild.doc>). Summit Hill, Carbon Co: residence at death, per Social Security records 9 MAY 1995 Death date, per Social Security records Per Jack Sterling: "Howard died 10/8/1986 in Coaldale St. Hospital, Coaldale Pa. His wife Maud was a descendant of one of those early Packer Twp. families. " May 5, 1995 Howard D. Brobst, 83, of Still Creek, RD4, Tamaqua, died Tuesday morning at his home. Born in Quakake, he was a son of the late Harry S. and Phoebe I. Bachert Brobst. He was employed for 44 years at Atlas Powder Co., Reynolds. He was of the Lutheran Faith. He was preceded in death by his wife, the former Agnes Scheitrum; four brothers, Charles, Elmer, Kenneth and Carl; a sister, Mary. Surviving are a daughter, Jean Ritter, Quakake; a son, Howard Paul, Hometown; six grandchildren; six great-grandchildren. Services will be held at 2 p.m. Friday from Lamar Christ Funeral Home, Hometown. The Rev. Joan Brown will officiate. Interment will be in Sky-View Memorial Park, Hometown. SOURCE: William A. Brobst's Online Database, Record ID#I06686 SSDI Howard BROBST Birth Date: 7 Feb 1912 Death Date: 9 May 1995 Social Security Number: 159-07-9588 State or Territory Where Number Was Issued: Pennsylvania Death Residence Localities ZIP Code: 18252 Localities: Tamaqua, Schuylkill, Pennsylvania From interview with Eleanora Brobst (nee Bachert) and niece Margaret Fegley on 5/30/03: Howard Daniel Brobst -- Worked at Atlas Powder Co on the powder line (from Margaret), "The Strippins" (Fazio) (involved with mining) Phone listing for Howard and sons, Brobst, Howard Hazltn-Tamqa Hwy 668-4409 SOURCE: Ashland * Frackville Phonebook (Tamaqua Listings), Area Code 717, The Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania, September 1981. p. 164. Location: Family History Center, Van Buren Dr. Whitehall, PA 18052. Ground plaque at Sky-View Memorial Park Cmty, Memorial Garden section, in Hometown: ROW 24 BROBST Howard D 1912-1995, Agnes M 1911-1987 SOURCE: Sky View Memorial Park Cemetery Project. Begun April 3 2004. Organized by Tom Brobst and Paula Konsavage. Contributors Norman Bachart, Virginia Bachart, Tom Brobst, Maryann Corby, Carol Hartzel, Jessica Konsavage, Paula Konsavage, Barb Lavin, Dorothy Lazo, and Joanne Vaughn. Memorial Garden section. Source is excerpt from file to be published on USGenWeb on the Schuylkill GenWeb site maintained by Barb Lavin. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> My thoughts on Howard in email to grandaughter Jeanne Damon: "...Howard, it seems, had a huge impact on your family, both negatively but also it seems in some positive ways. His character fascinates me a bit. Your mother seems to try to see the good in him without letting the bad parts eat her up with anger. Still she doesn't ignore it, but seems to have an incredible strength in her faith to cope with it and to forgive to a large degree. I love the way she communicated to your father how she didn't want him to wear a baseball cap at the supper table by wearing the babushka. It says a lot about her subtle wisdom. It makes me sad that I didn't get to meet her. To me, from the sense I've gotten from the stories I've heard of Howard, it seems he was two different people. A guy who could be a bit manic and harsh at home and possibly a guy who was the "life of the party" with his crew when he went to the bar or to the baseball field. He was very loved by my Pop and apparently others in the extended family. His drinking was famous. He seems to be very success-conscious and image oriented. He liked to have the latest gadgets before everyone else and probably loved to brag about it. He had a Pontiac with a rumble seat and let his daughter play in it with her friends. Maybe he had a bit of an inflated ego and some vanity because he was a good looking guy. He loved to play cards in social setting and likely loved to be "on stage" in the sense he loved having an audience. To be honest, Howard has a profile that matches a guy I know now who is an alcoholic and is bipolar. My Dad recalls Howard fondly as the guy who made others laugh with the stuff he did, like the incident of the beer barrel geyser at the baseball field in Quakake. Some things also tell me that Howard may have had a big heart deep down and really cared. His lack of showing care may have come from his stern and aloof father who on the day of his wife's funeral told his boss he'd be in late for work rather than take the entire day off to mourn. Sounds like Howard was flawed but it may not have been entirely his own fault. They had no medicine in those days to help manic depression and even if they did, it'd have been a sign of weakness for a guy with this personality profile to undertake. So, he self medicated with alcohol, something his body didn't process well. That's just my take on him. I may be way off base here but I wasn't close to it so my viewpoint is top-down. ..." SOURCE: Brobst, Tom <tbrobst@@yahoo.com> Email "thoughs on howard" [sic], Tue, 21 Aug 2007 13:37:32 -0700 (PDT) I learned from cousin Jeanne (Ritter) Damon that his brother Carl called him "Honey" which may have been a nickname that family had for him. They called Carl "Windy" for some reason. My parents, Art and Pat Brobst, verified these monikers. These two played baseball together and it may have been "Windy" for Carl for missing with his bat or because he was a talker. Howard was regarded as a good looking gent so he may have gotten "Honey" for his looks or maybe because he was a really good pitcher from what I was told.
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