Patricia (Moyer) Parker

Patricia ( Moyer) Parker, age 90, a long time resident of Bloomsburg and Fernville, PA, died of natural causes Sunday, May 15, 2016, at her home at 5 Grotto Drive, the Meadows at Maria Joseph Manor, Danville, PA.

Pat was born on September 20, 1925, in the Bloomsburg home of her parents, the late William Vance and Whilhelmine (White) Moyer. When she was five years old, that same site was seized through eminent domain by the Federal Government and has since been the location of the Bloomsburg Post Office.

Following graduation from Bloomsburg High School in 1943, she attended Syracuse University where she received a double major degree in history and journalism, graduating in 1947.

With the exception of attending college in New York and living for five years in Illinois in the 1950's, Pat spent  her entire life in Columbia County, where her ancestors settled in the early 1800's.

Upon her return from Syracuse to Bloomsburg, she was hired by the Eyerly family as the Women's Program Director and host of the show, Pat and Her Mike on radio station WCNR. In 1948, the late Harry L. Magee hired her as the creator of the Pat "Potluck" Parker variety program on his newly established radio station, WLTR and shortly thereafter the station call letters were changed to Harry's initials, WHLM. She then took time off to start her family and moved to Kankakee, Illinois for a few years. In 1960, she returned to Bloomsburg and was once again hired by Harry Magee as the curator of the former Magee Museum on Main Street and later as the tour director of the former Magee Transportation Museum on Millville Road. Following the Hurricane Agnes flood of 1972,  that destroyed the Transportation Museum and the subsequent death of her employer, Harry Magee, she joined the Press Enterprise as a news reporter, social page editor, and columnist for the newspaper. Later she authored several books, including: "Do You Remember Fernville?", "Fernville - 2007 Still Hangin' In!",  "The Museums of Harry L. Magee, Or What Became of the Trolleys?" and a number of children's books which are on the shelves of the children's library at the Bloomsburg Public Library.

Pat was a member of the Scottown/Fernville Flood Survival Committee; the Concerned Citizens of Hemlock Township and although a strong advocate for flood protection, she was a perennial protagonist in opposition to the original design of the floodwall for Bloomsburg/Fernville as proposed by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Pat was a life member of the First Presbyterian Church, the Bloomsburg Hospital Auxiliary, and the Columbia County Historical and Genealogical Society, the latter where served on the library, newsletter and publication committees. She was also a former Girl Scout and Cub Scout leader; and a devoted Meals on Wheels deliverer for over 25 years. Her hobbies included swimming, baking, and gardening; but her passion, up to her final days, was playing and teaching bridge, at which she excelled. She also loved watching British comedies and Penn State football on TV.

Pat is survived by and will be greatly missed by her daughter, Pamela Jean (Parker) and her husband Timothy Holmes, Bloomsburg; daughter-in-law, Debra B. Parker, Portland, Tenn.; brother -in-law, John Kaelberer, Takoma, Wash.; and numerous beloved nieces, nephews and their children.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her daughter, Barbara Lynne Parker; her son, William Vance Parker; her  sisters, Mary Doris "Molly" Kistler and Barbara Gay Kaelberer; her son-in-law, James W. Longenberger; and her brother-in-law, William "Webbie" Kistler.

A visitation for family and friends will be held on Wednesday from 6-8 p. m. in the Dean W. Kriner, Inc., Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 325 Market St., Bloomsburg. Burial will be made at the convenience of the family in Old Rosemont Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Pat's name are suggested to: Columbia County Historical and Genealogical Society, 225 Market St., Bloomsburg; the Bloomsburg Public Library, 225 Market St., Bloomsburg; or the Geisinger Columbia Montour Hospice, 410 Glenn Ave., Bloomsburg, PA 17815.

The family wishes to thank Pat's many devoted caregivers, both private and through the Geisinger Columbia Montour Home Hospice, for the dedication and loving kindness shown to her over the past months.