By Allison Crotzer Kimmel
It was a celebration that was a long time in the making – 70 years, five months and one week to be exact.
Because 70 years, five months and one week ago, my grandpa, Charles Zitzelberger Sr., was awarded his Eagle Scout honor at a dinner attended by 300 people, but he could not make it.
Though he had worked hard to complete his merit badges and went before his board of review to answer questions about his merit badges and though he dearly wanted to be named an Eagle Scout, on Feb. 8, 1951, he could not attend the dinner or the formal Court of Honor ceremony because he was serving his country abroad.
As soon as he graduated from St. Francis High School, my grandpa, Charlie and his cousin, Bud went down together to enlist in the U.S. Air Force. The Korean War and serving his country called, and ever a good scout, when there was a job to be done, Charlie Zitzelberger did it.
As a boy, he joined Troop 3 and walked form his parents’ house at the edge of the Clearfield Driving Park to the meetings in Plymptonville.
And even as his memory fades now, opportunities scouting afforded him like going to Parker Dam, Camp Mountain Run, going to the national jamboree, and visiting Washington, D.C. still remain with him.
Our family is so grateful to the Boy Scouts and particularly to you, the members of Troop 9, who have come here to honor our grandpa, father, great-grandpa and husband, Charles Zitzelberger, because you are not only Boy Scouts like he once was, you, Troop 9, are also his scouting legacy.
You see, after basic training in San Antonio, TX, and after being shipped to Germany and then Burtonwood Air Force Base in England as part of the 26th Statistical Squadron working on these “new-fangled IBM computing machines” for the Air Force, and after he’d met and married a beautiful English girl- my grandma, Mary- he came back with his young family to settle in his hometown, Clearfield.
The troop from which he once learned so much about life and honor and service and selflessness had disbanded.
It had been such an instrumental part of forming who my grandpa was as a person that he felt he must- with his friend, Ellery Taylor- begin a new troop and share with a new generation of boys all that scouting could teach about leadership, honor and service to others.
Grandpa and Ellery got permission to start a new troop through the Knights of Columbus in the late 1950’s, and that troop was Troop 9. As first assistant and then lead Scout Master, Grandpa, an Eagle Scout who’d never been honored in an official court ceremony produced many Eagle Scouts from Troop 9.
One of Grandpa’s “boys” now in his 70’s, David Stepien still recalls the impact my grandfather had on his life. I had the opportunity to talk about scouting and grandpa with Mr. Stepien a few weeks ago in preparation for this milestone.
He said grandpa was, “the most unassuming scout master. He wasn’t much for putting on airs. He was kind of a papa bear. He loved his kids and took care of his boys.” In fact, because of the example grandpa set, Dave became a scout master, too. He said he noticed how unselfish grandpa was with his time and energy.
And though my grandpa truly is not one to “put on airs” or ask for attention to be cast upon himself- probably the reason it has taken us 70 years, five months and one week to get to this celebration- we, his family, are grateful to Troop 9 and to all of the folks assembled here to honor this quiet, unassuming man who valued service and selflessness over pomp and circumstance.
On their first date, my grandpa Charlie told my gram she could trust him because he was an Eagle Scout, and she tells it, “He was taking me to the bus stop and while we were waiting, he said, ‘I’d like to see you again. I’ll always be respectful because I am an Eagle Scout.'”
In word and in deed, grandpa has not let his commitment as an Eagle Scout down, and now, we watch proudly as he receives his Court of Honor, given to him by the boys- his boys of Troop 9- who are his scouting legacy.
Thank you all, and grandpa, at long last, congratulations!
