Free Press –
Jim Ebbert – Obituary
Dear Friends,
Good morning. One of this region’s most respected residents left this world for the next. James C. Ebbert of Quakertown died at his home on the day after Christmas. He was 90.
To everyone, regardless of station, he was known as Jim and he seemed bigger than life. His height was in perfect keeping with his physique. I’d guess that he stood six feet, five inches tall. I never saw him without a smile.
Jim was the proprietor of the K and L coal and lumberyard on Front Street. I remember him driving his jeep to his business. He was twice as big as the jeep. I think that he folded himself in half just to get into it. Every day, he’d pass our house and wave.
Jim and Martha Ebbert had no children, so the entire community became his extended family. Few knew about his generosity because it was always anonymous. And as you’d expect, he left most of his fortune to community organizations.
I was ten years old when I first met him. Jim taught Industrial Arts and math in the Lincoln School Building on Sixth Street behind the present Quakertown elementary school.
That’s where he met Martha Moyer who taught English at QHS. Martha was one of my favorite teachers. It was she who introduced our class to the works of William Shakespeare. They married shortly after the end of World War II.
Paul “Moose” Barndt remembers Jim as one of his teachers and later as a colleague. After college, Moose returned to teach and coach sports at QHS. He became a principal and Assistant Superintendent. “Jim had empathy for his students,” Moose began. “He was strict but was always there for the kids…especially those who needed extra help.”
Moose reminded me that it was very unusual for the U.S. Army Air Corp to take someone as tall as Jim Ebbert. But it did in 1942. He taught celestial navigation to pilots during World War II
Philip Miller’s friendship with Jim Ebbert began in the mid 1960’s. Jim was a director at the Quakertown National Bank as it searched for a successor to Dr. Calvin Moyer, the bank’s President. Dr. Moyer had suddenly died. Jim’s wife was Dr. Moyer’s daughter. Jim and his fellow directors hired Phil Miller from the Coopersburg National Bank.
Phil and Jim were like brothers. They were in each other’s company constantly. “We’ve lost a wonderful man,” Phil told me about his friend.
Jim Ebbert and his fellow directors could have sold out to a Philadelphia bank but chose to keep QNB independent instead. Under Phil Miller’s presidency, QNB continued to grow and prosper. And it does today. Jim was on the team that selected Tom Bisko to succeed Phil Miller. Jim served on the bank’s board for 33 years.
Jim was teaching at QHS when Burton A. Knerr, the proprietor of the K and L Company, approached Cal Moyer. Knerr was also a director of QNB and was searching for a younger partner. Cal recommended his son-in-law, Jim Ebbert…and the rest is history. Years later, Jim and Martha purchased the Knerr home on Main Street. It was there that Jim died.
When you read Jim Ebbert’s obituary, you can understand how his life impacted the community. Along life’s way, he was a board member of the former Quakertown Hospital, Treasurer of the Quakertown School Authority, the Quakertown Water Authority, and the Union Cemetery Company.
Jim helped in the formation of the Quakertown Little League; was a former Secretary of the Quakertown Athletic Association; and former business manager of the Quakertown A.A. Football. He even found time to serve as chairman of the Quakertown Centennial Parade Committee in 1955. He belonged to the Quakertown Lions, Quakertown Masonic lodge, Lehigh Consistory, American Legion, Quakertown Moose, and the Chamber of Commerce.
Jim was very involved in spiritual matters, principally at the First United Church of Christ in Quakertown. He served on its church councils and sang in its choir. Jim was an excellent tenor and an accomplished sight-reader. When the church was built in the early 1960’s, the church council chose an electronic organ because a pipe organ was too expensive to install.
In the intervening years, extensive improvements were added to that organ, including pipes. It sounds very different today, thanks to the generosity of Jim and Martha Ebbert. To be accurate, I have no concrete proof that it was the Ebberts’ largess that made the difference. Still, I’d be astounded if it were not true.
As for me, personally, Jim and Martha were wonderful supporters. During my days at Penn, 50 years ago, they would come to my Mask and Wig performances when we toured in Allentown, Philadelphia, and Reading. It was great to see their smiling faces after the shows.
It’s strange how you remember special moments from so long ago. Ty, our first born, was a colicky child. He was quite grumpy and cried a good bit. Jim could calm Ty down instantly by picking him up and carrying him around.
This community will miss Jim’s presence…Betsy and I will too. After all, the town was his family.
Sincerely,
Charles Meredith