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Tuesday, 27 May 2008 |
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 Staff photo/Kay Louth
Arnold Meckstroth celebrated his 99th birthday Sunday. The St. Marys resident remains active as he closes in on a century of life.
By KAY LOUTH
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — A local resident closing in on a century of life credits his longevity to a higher power.
Arnold Meckstroth turned 99 on Sunday — a milestone he said was made possible by God. On Saturday, his family and friends got together at Otterbein St. Marys to celebrate his milestone birthday.
Meckstroth was born in 1909 on a farm 2 miles west of New Knoxville and lived there until his marriage to Martha Laura Katterheinrich in 1930, when they set up housekeeping for themselves. Their first child Ned Allen was born in 1931. The two of them were married for almost 75 years. Martha died in 2005.
“We had been married between 74 and 75 years and we were mightily blessed,” Meckstroth said. I was working at the time at the White Mountain Creamery in New Bremen and we lived there until 1932 when we moved to Springfield and I enrolled in Wittenberg College.”
His enrollment at Wittenberg began a five-year journey in education that would eventually lead him to be a minister in the United Church of Christ. While at Wittenberg, Meckstroth studied at the Hamma Divinity School, a seminary of the Lutheran Church. He graduated from Wittenberg in 1936 and in 1937, he began studying at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis.
With his formal education behind him, Meckstroth and his wife Martha began the next adventure of their lives, one that would span more than 40 years and include the birth of their second son, Marcus John.
He accepted a ministerial position with the St. Peter Church of Christ in Apple Creek, near Wooster. There he and his family would stay until 1941.
Then it was on to the Faith United Church of Christ in Cleveland for a nine-year stint from 1941 to 1950, as their minister until he and his family moved on to the Grace United Church of Christ in Akron for eight years, from 1951 to 1959. In 1959, the family moved to Chillicothe where Meckstroth became the minster for the United Church of Christ there.
“I felt the call to be a minster and that led me to college and seminary,” Meckstroth said. “I felt the calling to be a minister and my wife and I had many blessings in it. We had a good experience in all of the churches we served in and also in our retirement. I always felt at home in the pulpit. I had a good ministry.”
Through his 40 years in the ministry, Meckstroth said he has met scores of people — many which remain in contact with him to this day. He attends church in New Knoxville, where the United Church of Christ made him a Pastor Emeritus in the last couple of years, he said.
“I’m a ministerial son,” Meckstroth said. “I was reared in the First United Church of Christ in New Knoxville. It’s my home church.”
Both of his sons, Ned Allen and Marcus John, also are retired minsters from the United Church of Christ. Ned Allen lives in Plymouth, Ind., with his wife Joan. They have a son, and three grandchildren. Marcus John with his wife Meata in State College, Pa. They have two children.
During his retirement, Meckstroth said he and his wife traveled to Europe. The couple spoke German and Meckstroth said they wanted to visit the home of their ancestors.
“We traveled to the homeland of our forefathers,” Meckstroth said, noting he is still in touch with distant relatives and friends in Ladbergen, Germany.
His life is quieter now than it used to be, but Meckstroth keeps busy. At his home, his walls are adorned with family photos, both new and old.
Meckstroth makes wooden wall plaques as a hobby. Some he keeps and some he gives away to friends and family.
Meckstroth also said he is an avid reader, with stacks of books in his home. The 99 year old said he enjoys reading about history and also has an interest in Sudoku puzzles.
“I’m trying to get better acquainted with Sudoku,” he said. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 30 May 2008 )
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