Emma Wentzel-Toth

Emma C. Wentzel-Toth, 99, a resident of Sara Todd Nursing Home, passed away peacefully on 1/1/2012. She was born on Monday on Feb 19th, 1912 in Oak Grove, Perry County, one of four children of John Calvin Wentzel and Floie Etta Shiebley Wentzel. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Henry Marcus Weitzel, DDS, in 1951 and second husband, Frank Toth in 2007 and her brothers Mark and Alton Wentzel and sister, Martha Ann Wentzel Heffelfinger . She is survived by her daughter and only child, Emma Kathryn (EK) Weitzel, of Carlisle and several nieces and nephews.
Emma graduated Carlisle High School, class of 1930 and Dickinson College, class of 1934. Dr. Ben James, the only surviving college classmate is currently living at Sara Todd and they visited together often. While in college, she was class historian her junior year and a member of Phi Mu. She taught school at the Lamberton in Carlisle for several years. At the young age of 24 she traveled by ship to Europe in '36 and '37 cycling across the Alps and attended the Olympics in Berlin in 1936. Married in 1939, she and Dr. Weitzel lived in Shippensburg in an historic limestone house at 68 E. King Street which was purchased in 1943. After his death, she married Frank Toth, a Hungarian tailor on Feb 11, 1952.
She was a member of First United Church of Christ in Carlisle and had been a member of the Presbyterian Church in Shippensburg. She was active in the Shippensburg Historical Society. Phi Mu, and attended events at Dickinson College and Shippensburg University. She followed the Molly Pitcher Troup and any community theatre that her daughter was involved with. She also supported the Carlisle Theatre back in the early days. She loved to travel. During a trip with the family to Texas in 1929, she learned to drive. Her last trip abroad was in 1983 with her daughter.
Emma lived independently on Pomfret Street in Carlisle until 2008 when her health started to deteriorate. She became a resident of Sara Todd where her sister had been a resident until her death in 2005. She will be missed by her friends in Shippensburg and Carlisle, her neighbors and many others who had the opportunity to speak with her on a wide range of subjects which included politics and religion.
Strong minded and independent, way before her time, she was a housewife and mother. Emma was exactly what the poem said; Monday's child is fair of face. She believed in old fashioned manners and the wearing of skirts when going out. Her letters are a treasure to read and full of wisdom that will never go out of style. She wore her hair in a bun and loved hats from Pomeroy's in Harrisburg.
Her final wish was that her body be donated to science and she has become a donor for the Humanity Gifts Registry. A memorial service will be held at a later date at the convenience of her daughter. Memorial contributions can be made to her church, First United Church of Christ, 30 North Pitt Street, Carlisle, PA 17013, the Carlisle YWCA, 301 G Street, Carlisle, PA 17013 or the Shippensburg Historical Society, 52 West King Street, Shippensburg, PA 17257.
Hoffman-Roth Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc., 219 North Hanover Street, Carlisle is in charge of the funeral arrangements.