Homer J. Smeltzer. “Pop” was a quiet man and didn't share many stories of his family. He was a Car Inspector for the Pennsylvania Railroad until his retirement in 1943 after 43 years of service. He also managed the local Juniata movie theater. Mom helped with the cleaning of the theater, sometimes with the assistance of various grandchildren, including Mary and Linda. I know that some of my other cousins also helped clean the theater. Virginia remembers selling candy in the theater. She remembers sitting in the movies with Ed David and when Pop would come down the isle with his flashlight to check on the kids, Virginia would make Ed move to another seat so Pop wouldn't see them sitting together. I remember only a little bit of being at the theater, like the old popcorn machine, the bathrooms, the rows of seats, and watching an occasional movie. I remember “dancing and prancing” on the stage a few times. I'm told that Pop played the guitar and harmonica, but I never had the opportunity to see him play either one.

I'm also told that Pop would sit and watch the grandkids get into mischief and do things, but he wouldn't correct them. He always called for “Laura” to come and discipline them. He would often take the grandkids fishing and he would fish until the kids started acting up, getting loud and throwing pebbles in the stream. He never yelled at the kids, he would just say “time to go home”.

I was just over 5 years old when Pop died, but I can remember him clearly. He was always playful with me and I enjoyed his company tremendously. When Mum and I used to visit Mom and Pop in their upstairs apartment on 4th Avenue in Juniata, I would always sleep in the bed between Mum and Mom, and Pop would be relegated to the reed couch in the living room. I remember when I would wake up in the morning, I would run out to the living room and tap him on the shoulder. He would open one eye and close it, then open the other eye, etc. My last memory of Pop is of him sitting up in bed in his striped pajamas. I don't remember what caused him to be bed-ridden at that time. I had a balloon that day and we played with it, batting it back and forth to each other. As I said he was always playful. I really loved that man.

Mom and Pop managed a restaurant for a time called The Pennsylvania Restaurant. Mom and Eunice were the cooks. My mother Mildred was the waitress. I am told that my father met my mother at this restaurant. According to Anna Mae, she remembers the grandkids were put to bed early in the evening at bedtime, however, the kids: Anna Mae, Vivian “Dood”, Virginia “Jinx”, not certain of the others, were roused around midnight to get back up and help clean the restaurant after closing. Anna Mae remembers having to clean the butcher block table with Clorox. Some of the other grandkids do not agree with that recollection of getting up during the night. Virginia remembers that when Mom and Pop lived on Third Avenue, there was an old fur coat in the attic, and the kids would fight over who was going to sleep in it because it was so warm. Over the years, many of Mom and Pop's grandchildren lived with them for a time due to one circumstance or another.

In later years, Mom also worked for a gentleman named Charlie who had a restaurant in Juniata. I remember him as being a nice man when we stopped in the restaurant, mostly after just arriving in Altoona for a visit. The restaurant was taken over first by Uncle Bill and Aunt Belva and then later by Aunt Eunice as the Juniata Quick Lunch. It was very popular with the railroaders and shop workers. Aunt Eunice was famous for her hot dog sauce and her hamburgers in tomato sauce. I still love those hamburgers today and make them occasionally at home. But nobody could make them like Aunt Eunice. Our family was blessed with some really great cooks.

According to Uncle Bill, the old homestead in Lakemont Park is still standing. He remembers Grandma Mays laying across the big bay window, and a small room in the front corner of the upper floor designated as the room used for “bathroom” purposes. He also remembers the house catching fire once, and Mrs. Kissel, a neighbor, putting the fire out.