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Leonard Huffstetler
notes 95th birthday
BY ANDIE L. BRYMER
Staff Writer
After 95 years Leonard
Hulffstetler is still laughing.
The Kings Mountain man
celebrated his birthday last
. week.
“I've got a lot of pain.
Through it all I'm happy,”
he said.
Jean Peterson, who says
Mr. Huffstetler is the father
she never had, agrees that
the man doesn’t let age or
knee and hip replacement
stop him.
“He's always happy.”
Mr. Huffstetler is probably
best known for reviving
Penley’s Chapel Church
located on N.C. 216. He was
teaching a men’s Sunday
school class at Grace United
Methodist when the denom-
ination’s district superin-
tendent noticed the class
had grown from 20 to 50
members in five years. The
man was so impressed, he
asked Mr. Huffstetler to start
a church in the building
which was slated for sale.
That was 1955. Since then
the church has grown from
18 on that first Sunday to
averaging 50 at its services.
“We started with noth-
ing,” he said.
Mr. Huffstetler credits his
wife Cornelia, now
deceased, for helping start
the church with proceeds
from bake sales.
“That woman, she baked
pies that were out of this
world,” Peterson said.
Mr. Huffstetler stepped
down from the pulpit in
1995, just two months short
of the forty year mark. He
never accepted payment for
preaching; instead he
worked at Ferguson Glass
Company. Cornelia’s job
was in textiles. Today he
teaches a men’s class at
Penley’s.
“He’s a man of God. He
loves people. He loves the
Lord,” said Rev. Doug Allen,
the current pastor. “When
we get together, we have to
schedule a couple hours
because we get to talking
about the Lord and we don’t
know when to hush.”
Faced with sharing a min-
ister with another church,
Penley’s Chapel bought the
building from the United
Methodist to become an
interdenominational church
nine years ago, just prior to
Mr. Huffstetler’s retirement.
Since becoming a
Christian in 1946, he says
faith and the Bible have
been central.
“That’s about all I studied,
that’s about all that’s been
on my mind,” he said.
Mr. Huffstetler is quick to
say he has no official minis-
terial credentials. Forced to
quit elementary school to
work at Dilling Mill, he
never completed his formal
education.
“I was 13 when my daddy
put me to work. Back then
there was no child labor
law,” he said.
The youngster was paid
15 cents an hour. His dad
made $1 a day. Only once
were his parents able to
afford Christmas presents
for Mr. Huffstetler.
“The only thing we knew
was a piece of cake, piece of
pie on Christmas,” he said.
Mr. Huffstetler remembers
when the mill put water
pipes through the floors of
all the homes. A spigot con-
trolled the flow of the cold
water. Later toilets were
installed on back porches,
replacing outdoor privies.
At age 18, Mr. Huffstetler
married and left home. The
wedding took place on Feb.
2, Groundhog's Day. Two
years later the couple’s only
child Boyce was born. They
called him their little
groundhog.
Soon after his son was
born, Mr. Huffstetler had to
LEONARD HUFFSTETLER
leave his young family for
the Army. World War II was
raging. He spent 30 months
in North Africa and Europe.
Today he keeps a world
map spread on the living
room coffee table. This helps
him keep up with his great-
granddaughter Clara
Hulffstetler who is in the
Navy. Once she sailed
through the same Straits of
Gibraltar that Mr.
Huffstetler did on his way to
North Africa a half century
ago.
In addition to Clara, he
has five other great-grand-
children and three grand-
sons. One is a Navy chap-
lain.
JE
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The Kings Mountain Herald
Thursday, July 1, 2004
JOSEPH BRYMER / HERALD
Leonard Huffstetler, retired pastor of Penley’s Chapel, recently turned 95 years old.
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