March 4, a Big Day!

Greetings to the Glass Family!

March 4—a big day for us. First it’s election day. I hope you get out and vote. I hope to do that in just a little while. It is also the BIG 20 for Amy. Happy Birthday Amy! Now you can vote too!

For me, it is a very special day. My Dad, the original Roy Edgar Glass, was born on this date, 1900. Yes, that’s 108 years ago. To me, it wasn’t that long ago. I could always remember his age by the year—like, he was 28 years old when I was born—1928. This picture was for his pass to the Naval Torpedo Plant.

Mom, Grandma Susie, was 8 years his senior, born December 3, 1893. They were married November 27, 1919. Dad was in the Army Air Force and was discharged about this time. He spent the most of his time in San Diego. At one time we had a large picture of his outfit. It was about 8 to 10 inches high and about 24 to 30 inches long. I don’t know how they did it. Maybe they had a wide angle lense back then. It’s been gone for a long time. Maybe some of you older ones remember it or know what happened to it.

At the time they were dating, mom lived at their/her home, 701 Second Street in Juniata. Dad lived with his parents at 12th Avenue and Second Street—only 5 blocks away. Grandpa and Grandma later moved several blocks over to 1107 Park Boulevard, just a stone’s throw from the Memorial Park and swimming pool.

At some point Dad began working for Uncle John, my mother’s older brother. You see, Grandpa Brumbaugh died in 1916. He was pastor at the Bellwood Church of the Brethren and supported himself and family by running a grocery/general store. His first store was in Bellwood and later in Juniata. So Dad and Mom married 3 years after Grandpa Brumbaugh’s death. Mom’s older sister, Elma, was married to George Rogers who was also a minister. It was Uncle George who performed their wedding.

Both Dad and Mom often told the story how Dad took Mom down the basement of the store where many of the bulk items were stored. He sat her on a large 100 pound bag of sugar and there proposed. She said ‘yes.’



In those early days, Dad was an apprentice for the Pennsylvania Railroad and became a machinist by trade. At some later time they decided to get in the grocery business. Their first store was at 15th Ave and Broadway in Juniata—just across the street and down from the present Grace Brethren Church. A large “Silk Mill” was located across the street, so they had a lunch counter in the store. It was a favorite spot for the silk mill workers. I vaguely remember those days. I do remember one night that Dad and a friend, Lou Grubb, later the director of the [Brethren] Home Mission Council, went to the store and spent the night shooting rats. They were probably there for only a short time, but to me it was all night.





They later opened a store at 6th Ave, between 4th and 5th Street in Juniata. This store was only a few blocks from Uncle John’s store, but I never heard of any animosity because of it. As a matter of fact, we still bought things from him. Our store was more groceries. Uncle John’s was more of a general store where you could buy almost anything. That’s where we bought our shoes. This is Uncle John Brumbaugh standing on the corner of 7th Ave and 2nd Street in front of the store.

My memories of the 6th avenue store are more vivid. Dick, my brother, and I would stock the shelves with groceries. We liked to do the toilet paper, which was kept of the top shelves. Dick would throw them to me as I stood on top of the counter and stacked them on the shelf. Mom would take orders on the phone and Dick and I would put the orders together in boxes. Dad and I delivered them in a 1937 Ford 4 door sedan. Maybe I should do that car for the Awana Grand Prix.


Other memories included the burial vaults that were stored behind the store. The man who lived next door accidently shot himself while hunting. It left his face badly disfigured. Someone tried to break in the back door one night, cut himself pretty badly and left blood every where. We usually had breakfast at the store before going to school. It was usually oatmeal, but corn flakes were around back then. The deliveryman who brought the big stalks of bananas to us found a tarantula spider in them. It was as big as a silver dollar.

There was a walk-in cooler for refrigerating the meat products. They would buy a side of beef or maybe a whole one, and then cut it however the customer wanted. Mom and Dad were both excellent butchers. As a matter of fact, so was Grandpa [Martin K] Glass.


These were difficult days. The [railroad] shops did not have a lot of work and many folks couldn’t pay their grocery bill at the end of the month. We often ate meals at the store. Our table was the meat-cutting block. Oatmeal was a stable.

So with these tough times, Dad decided that he should take advantage of his machinist trade. He applied to the Baldwin Locomotive Company in Philadelphia and also the U.S. Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. We ended up in Alexandria VA in 1939-40 where Dad went to work at the Naval Torpedo Station. The timing was significant. It was only a short time before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

When Dad died in 1955, he was the top civilian working at the plant. He was a smart man but never did graduate from high school. So far as I know, that is when he joined the Army Air Force.

So remember that Election day does not always come on this day, but March the 4th is special because it is Amy’s birthday along with her great grandfather, Roy E. Glass—the first one, who later added Sr to his name to avoid any confusion with his son, Junior Glass. Later we added number 3, and #3 added #4. Number 4 decided enough is enough and he added Ashton!
March 4—a big day for us.

Have a good day,

Gpa G