Clarence Charles Diehl

Child support became a critical issue in the Diehl household. Unfortunately, a “noncustodial parent” in the 1890s didn’t have the legally enforceable obligations that are in place today, so William Diehl simply left his wife, Elizabeth, and five children. With nothing.

The German parents were raising their children in Hazelton, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. They were all baptized and receiving their spiritual nourishment at Trinity Lutheran Church (which is still active today). Physical nourishment was a different story. 

Clarence was the youngest, at just two years old, when his father vanished. George and Anna were teenagers, so they had to work to provide some support. The burden was still too much for their mother to bear, but her church family came to her aid. 

In 1896 Olive, age 10, and Norris, 9, were placed in the Tressler Orphans Home, run by the Lutherans. Their pastor drove them about a hundred miles southwest to Loysville, northwest of Harrisburg. Clarence joined them in 1898. Not long after that, their mother was sent to an almshouse near Hazelton, where she died two years later.

The orphan home turned out to be a very good home for the Diehl children. Clarence learned to play the clarinet and was part of the band, pictured here about the time he was in high school. He should be one of the five clarinetists on the front row, left side. He graduated in 1908 and found work in Carlisle in the local newspaper’s pressroom. From there he became a linotype operator at the North American, a daily paper in Philadelphia.

Clarence learned the importance of family, and stayed close to his two sisters and two brothers after each of them married. That was especially true after Norris’ accidental drowning in 1915. He not only stayed in touch with his Tressler family over the years, he served in more than one position with the Tressler alumni association. This is an excerpt from their tribute to him.

His 1917 draft card mentioned he was in the 8th Regimental Band of the National Guard of Pennsylvania for three years, most likely from 1908-1911 in Carlisle. While there, he also played clarinet in the town band and at church.

He was drafted in August of 1918 but it wasn’t for his musical ability. He was sent to Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina for basic training but one month later he boarded a ship overseas. He served at Camp Hospital 52 in eastern France until he was discharged the following July and returned to work. 

Both sisters had moved to Philly after they married. Clarence moved in with them after he returned to his civilian job. Anna was the homeowner, a recent widow with two boys. Olive and her husband were also living there.

Finally, Clarence found his soul mate in Elizabeth Henrietta Horley, sometime in the early 1920s. In May of 1925 the North American stopped production when it was bought by another Philadelphia newspaper, the Daily Ledger. That may have left Clarence without a job. 

He didn’t have much time to consider his options, however. In August he was admitted to Misericordia Hospital with chronic kidney disease, which ultimately ended his life in October. His wife remarried but was interred beside him in 1990.