His family always knew him as “Reuben” and his name appears as the same in the 1930 U.S. Federal Census, as well as other records. His headstone is inscribed “Rubin.” The compiler of this database also has photos of his Social Sercurity card and last Pennsylvania drivers license in which his name appears as “Rubin Lyons.” Like other members of the Lines family it is not known exactly why he changed the spelling of his last name.16,3
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Reuben lived on Erie Avenue in Philadelphia on about 1954. Also in Philadelphia at the same time was his brother’s Wilbur and Richard.33
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Helen Hale was his friend for the last several years of his life. Her husband of many years committed suicide. I believe his name was John.148
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Reuben’s middle name came from a Dr. Waterworth who treated his mother Nora during knee surgery that was damaged after a fall. She was in the hospital with her leg up in a sling when Rubin was born. There’s a plaque in the Clearfield Hospital bearing Dr. Waterworth’s name.41
Note: An S.J. Waterworth signed the Certificate of Death for Eliza Bowman (1840-1915).149
Note: The name S.J. Waterworth appears in a number of places when his name and location are Googled. He is said to be the founder of the Clearfield Hospital.3

Dr. Waterworth died June 6, 1940.
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Reuben is listed in a local newspaper article as a participant in a school presentation of the play “Poor Richard’s Dream” as an 11 year old.150
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He is listed when he was 14 years old in a newspaper article as attending a St. Patrick’s Day party as a member of “The Good Writers Club.”151
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Reuben enlisted in the U.S. Army with his brother Wilbur in the spring of 1937.112
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Resident of Baltimore, MD in Aug 1955.15

Reuben was a long-time resident of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, while employed with the B&O railroad. He eventually moved closer to his boyhood home in Clearfield, Clearfield, PA in the later years of his life, where he enjoyed his retirement before his death.147

Reuben. like his father, changed the spelling of his last name to “Lyons.” It’s not known why, but there was speculation he went AWOL (Absent Without Leave) when he was in the army.36
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Memories of my Uncle Reuben
By his nephew Richard Lee Gleason

Uncle Reuben had been a long-time resident of Philadelphia and my mother and I had visited with him and his wife Kay on a few occasions at his home when I was a young boy. Later as a teenager I had the opportunity to see him on frequent occasions when he would travel to Washington D.C. as a brakeman on a freight train for the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) railroad.

I know his job demanded quite a bit of him and his hours were long but he was also handsomely paid. As I recall he once told me his take-home pay was more than $800 a week. That was a considerable income in those days of the early 1970s. His time with us would usually be short and he’d barely have enough time to get sufficient sleep before he’d have to head back to Washington’s Union Station for his return-trip to Philadelphia. I always looked forward to seeing and visiting with him.

Uncle Reuben like a few of his other brothers as well as his sister Lillian was a heavy drinker. There were several times when he would arrive at our apartment for his layover a bit inebriated. I knew instantly when I looked at him and saw those glassy-eyes, and accompanying big grin, that he had spent some time at a bar before his arrival. Whether he had been drinking or not Uncle Reuben’s moods could vary from jovial and funny to tired, depressed and fed-up with life in general. But I always enjoyed his company despite those differences.

While a college student in Provo, Utah sometime in the early spring of 1976 I returned from an errand with my wife to find Uncle Reuben standing at the entrance to our apartment. It was a huge and pleasant surprise. One that was totally unexpected. We enjoyed a short one or two day visit and then he flew home. It was the only time that any of my aunts or uncles had visited me after my move to the west.

Following a divorce from his second wife Kay and his retirement Reuben returned to live out his remaining years at his boyhood home in Pennsylvania. While there he grew close to and spent a lot of time with a woman from near-by Curwensville, Helen Hale.* Helen had been a long-time friend of a number of people in our family. Her husband had committed suicide some years earlier and she lived in the house that she and her husband had shared.

On the couple of occasions when I visited Pennsylvania, and my Uncle Reuben was living there, we would always visit with Helen at her house where she would serve up a great home-cooked meal. Her place was just a short distance as I recall from where my grandmother had lived for many years on what was called Irvin (or Irwin) Hill. Helen was a very likable and sweet woman and was good company for my Uncle and I enjoyed our visits with her.

It was Uncle Reuben who phoned me early the afternoon of November 4, 1990 to tell me my mother had passed away. He lived a short distance away and had spent a lot of time with my mother in the months and weeks prior to her death.

A week or so later with my Uncle Reuben we drove out to visit the grave of my grandmother Nora. It was there during a light rainfall where he and I spread the ashes of my cremated mother on the grave of their mother. I recall well the drive back to my mother’s trailer on that gloomy and wet late afternoon. Not much was said between us. It was an overwhelming experience to see and to dispose of what was left of our loved-one but while appreciating we had done just as she had requested.

A day or two later Uncle Reuben drove me from Pennsylvania to Akron, Ohio where I prepared for my return trip to Washington state. It was the last time I ever saw him and I regret that I didn’t make more of an effort to talk with him in the three years that followed. During that time I lost track of Helen Hale as well but learned in about 2009 that she was still alive and living in an apartment in Curwensville.
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Uncle Reuben’s grave is just a few steps from that of my father, my grandfather and great grandparents.3
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*I’m sure that Helen Hale is related to some of the Hales found within this database.3