Shortly thereafter they were visited by William Evans, a Bible Student, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then called. Father, who was by then only in his mid-20’s, and Mother, who was five years younger, listened to this friendly Welshman and invited him for a meal. Soon they embraced the Bible truths they were learning.

Although Brother Evans and his wife, Miriam, had no children, they became spiritual parents and grandparents to our family. William always addressed Father as “Son,” and he and Miriam instilled in our family the evangelizing spirit. In the early part of the 20th century, Brother Evans had made trips back to Wales to introduce Bible truth to the area around Swansea. There he was known as the preacher from America.

In 1928, Brother Evans gave up his employment and began preaching in the hills of West Virginia. My two older brothers, 21-year-old Clarence and 19-year-old Carl, accompanied him. All four of us boys spent many years in the full-time ministry. In fact, all of us served as traveling overseers of Jehovah’s Witnesses in our youth. Not long ago Mother’s youngest sister, Mary, who is now well into her 90’s, wrote me: “How grateful we all are that Brother Evans had zeal for the ministry and visited Grove City!” Aunt Mary is another one who has remembered her Creator since her youth.