SAEGERTOWN — Doris Catherine Hess Gum, 91, formerly of Plainfield Township, Moore Township and Cochranton, passed away June 26, 2009, at Crawford County Care Center, Saegertown.
She was born March 23, 1918, in Wilson Borough, daughter of the late Franklin Hess and Jessie Green Hess. She attended schools in Plainfield Township. She married Wilson F. Gum, Sr. on December 31, 1938, in Pen Argyl.
Doris lived with her husband, a dairy farmer, on a number of farms in Northampton and Crawford counties for the next 60 years. They were married 69 years. She and her Wilson raised a family of three boys.
Doris and her husband moved their farm to Crawford County in 1974 establishing the Gum Acres Farm near Cochranton with their son Dale and daughter-in-law, Shirley. They retired from an active farming life in 1989 and moved back to Moore Township. They resided there until March of 2005 when they returned to Cochranton to be back on their beloved farm to spend their last days on this good Earth.
Besides being a hard-working housewife and loving mother, Doris was active in the Aluta Lodge in Bushkill Township, the Auxiliary of Boy Scout Troop 76, sponsored by St. Peters Lutheran Church, a member of the Plainfield Township Farmers Association and a volunteer with the Plainfield Township Fire Company Auxiliary. She also worked in the Pen Argyl Area School District Cafeteria for ten years. She was a member of St. Peters Lutheran Church in Plainfield Township.
She is survived by her three sons, Dr. Wilson F. Gum, Jr. and his wife, Barbara, of Moorestown, Dale W. Gum and his wife, Shirley, of Cochranton, and Dr. Glenwood G. Gum and his wife, Gilda, of Alta Loma, Calif., 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Doris is preceded in death by her husband, Wilson F. Gum, Sr., who passed away March 30, 2008 and 12 sisters and brothers. Her sisters were the late Dorothy Houser (a twin sister), Florence Stettler, Minnie Adams, Mildred Stout, Edna Itterly, Ada Eckert, Frances Keenhold and Elsie Samson. Her brothers were the late Franklin Hess, Jr., Clark Hess, Roy George and Lester George.
A funeral service will be held at St. Peters Evangelical Lutheran Church in Plainfield Township on Thursday at 11 a.m. Interment will follow in Plainfield Cemetery. Friends and family are invited to call Thursday from 10 to 11 a.m. in the church.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in memory of Doris C. Gum to St. Peters Church at 1442 Church Road, Pen Argyl, Pa. 18072 or Hospice of Crawford County, Inc. at 464 Pine Street, Meadville, Pa. 16335.
Arrangements are being made by George G. Bensing Funeral Home, Inc., 2165 Community Drive-Moorestown, Bath, Pa. 18014.
