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Relatives reveal personal side of longtime congressman who enjoyed taking family to U.S. park he helped create
By Phil Trexler
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Sunday, Sep 28, 2008
BATH TWP.: Most Sundays, John and Betty Seiberling would gather their three sons together inside the family home and open a Bible.
Stephen Seiberling still remembers his father's weekly readings to his young sons — Scriptures of loving one another, of turning the other cheek, of giving and lending.
As he fought tears Saturday, he also recalled the tears that once trickled from his dad's eyes while the turbulent 1960s rambled on outside.
''When we took a brief break, I asked my mom why my dad was crying,'' he said, stifling his own emotions. ''And she said, 'It's because it means so much to him.' ''
A personal side of John F. Seiberling, the longtime congressman, influential conservationist and devoted family man, was shared Saturday at the Bath Church, United Church of Christ, during a memorial service celebrating his life.
Akron's representative in Congress from 1971-1986, Seiberling died Aug. 2 at the age of 89.
His ashes were interred Friday in a simple lot inside Glendale Cemetery in Akron. Memorial services were delayed in order for friends and family to gather from around the country.
''Dad was not a world-turning monarch, and I'm not sure he would have liked the comparison,'' Stephen Seiberling continued in his eulogy.
''But to me, his life and work speak to the possibilities that fairness, respect, care for all creatures and commitment to truth can have in influencing our world.''
Family, friends, supporters and political allies reflected on his passions: of preserving the Cuyahoga Valley by fending off utility lines and commercial development and creating a national park there.
They recalled his opposition to war, his admiration of men like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. They spoke of his love of literature, Robert Frost, A.E. Housman, The Grapes of Wrath, poetry, nature and the arts; his work as a lawyer; and maintaining the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. name he inherited.
On a lighter side, his sisters recalled his ''happy hooligan'' silly pranks and how he once boasted of receiving bad grades from King Elementary in Akron, marks that didn't foretell his future degrees from Harvard and Columbia.
They complimented his carpentry work and exposed a family secret: his penchant for gardening in the nude, singing along as he cleared weeds and brush.
They spoke of his days serving in World War II and his taking a Bible and Walt Whitman works with him onto the River Thames as bombs fell nearby.
As he grew into manhood, his sisters and his mother, Henrietta, came to rely on his insight, intellect and compassion.
'' 'Let's ask John' was a habitual refrain,'' his sister Dorothy recalled. ''We marveled at his sense of responsibility . . . and today, whenever I hear some political baloney, I echo John and say: piffle.''
His sons recalled a ''pragmatic idealist'' in his devotion to our ecology and preserving nature from Washington to Alaska. John B. Seiberling said his father was ''the smartest man I ever knew.''
''His vision was holistic and vast, his concerns, global,'' said son David.
Among those in attendance were Summit County Executive Russ Pry, Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic, retired Deputy Mayor Dorothy Jackson, state Sen. Tom Sawyer and Common Pleas Judge Robert Gippin.
The gathering heard a message of thanks prepared by Seiberling's wife, Betty, eulogies from Seiberling's sons, John B., David and Stephen, his daughter-in-law, Kelly, his sisters Mary and Dorothy, and grandson, Evan.
They also heard from John Debo, the superintendent of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and Loretta Neumann, the congressman's former aide.
U.S. Reps. Ralph Regula, Betty Sutton and Tim Ryan and Sen. Sherrod Brown sent regrets, as they attended to the country's economic crisis in Washington.
John Seiberling's only grandchild, 11-year-old Evan, stood before the crowded church, delivering a eulogy that brought laughs and tears.
He spoke of his grandfather's love of oatmeal cookies or a scoop of peach ice cream, their walks together in the Cuyahoga Valley, feeding chickadees from his hand in the Nature Realm named for his grandfather. He conjured sounds of whistling tunes, quoting poetry — small things that the boy said he will never forget as he carries on the Seiberling name.
He ended with a proverb that speaks of some in the world who find joy everywhere and leave it for others to discover as well.
''Cheerio, Grandpa John,'' Evan said, borrowing his grandfather's trademark farewell. ''Cheerio.''
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.
BATH TWP.: Most Sundays, John and Betty Seiberling would gather their three sons together inside the family home and open a Bible.
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