REFLECTIONS ABOUT MY BROTHER TED
                       by Mary Ann Studebaker Mishler


   When I was 15 years old, A Sophomore in high school, my brother Ted was
born. It was September 1945. We lived on a 140 acre dairy farm south of
West Milton and were accustomed to new babies in the family - we already
had 3 girls and 3 boys, so we welcomed him and loved him and all took care
of him.  I was the oldest child.

  Our family was an ordinary family in many respects for that time-nearly
50 years ago, but perhaps not ordinary measured by today's families. First,
there were so many of us. Ted was the seventh child, the first to be born
in a hospital and when Ted was 8 years old, our brother Doug was born. Also
my parents were farmers - my Dad and brothers did the farming, took care of
the animals and the crops and my mother stayed at home and cared for the
family. We learned how to work hard and long - doing the chores around the
farm and in the house. We never had much money but we had all we needed. We
had lots of home-made fun. TV was just becoming avilable so instead of TV
we listened to the radio - Fibber McGee, Red Skelton, Bell Telephone Hour,
and Cities Service Band of America are a few programs I remember.

  Singing around the piano while my Mom played was another source of
entertainment - she taught us many songs and hymn and even harmony - Dad
always sang bass. Several of my brothers, including, Ted, learned to play
the guitar. We had a farm pond that provided many hours of fun-picnics,
swimming in the summer and ice skating in winter, playing on a raft my 
brothers built and swinging from a rope they tied onto a limb of a 
sycamore tree and then diving head first into the pond. Ted forgot to take
off his glasses once and they are still in the mud at the bottom of that
pond. My Mom was able to make a game out of work whether it was weeding
our mammoth garden, shelling peas, folding diapers, milking cows, or
hauling manure.

  Growing up on the farm prepared us for many life experiences, I believe.
We learned to be flexible. Plans had to be changed because of weather-sick
animals, breakdown of machinery. We had a three bedroom farmhouse with one
bath and we learned patience and tolerance and a respect for one another
and for each one's special gifts. We learned the value of work and play and
the relationship of one to the other. Mom and Dad dedicated each new baby
to the Lord and made a committment to bring each child up in the knowledge
of Christ. Our parents took us to church and Sunday School. We took part in
youth activities and always were encouraged to go to church camp at
Sugar Grove and later WA.

  When Ted was in the 5th and 6th grade, he first talked of doing some
volunteer work to help other people and he thought about that as part of
his life work. When he was in the 8th grade, he had opportunity to work for
a plumbing and heating contractor, and saving his money toward college to 
prepare him in some area of social service. During his high school years the
Viet Nam war was being fought and he became even more compelled to make his 
life a statement for peace and understanding.

  On the farm, the girls learned domestic things, sewing, cooking and the 
boys were often up at 3:00 or 4:00 am to feed and milk cows, so they
wouldn't be late for school. Ted participated in FFA and 4H projects, going
to the fair. He raised chickens, a steer, hogs and had an exceptional
interest in machinery and how to maintain it. Dad told me this week how he
taught Ted to drive our little Ford tractor with a harrow on behind, going
up and down the field when he was only 9 years old. This cause someone to
stop and comment that a tractor was in the field with no one on it. Ted
loved his little brother Doug and used to dress him up in his football suit
when he was 2 years old.

  Ted played many sports but his real love was football, and he wrote a
very meaningful essay at Manchester College after he hung up his uniform 
for the last time, listing the many disciplines he had learned from his 
years on the football field. Ted was a person who didn't give up easily. He 
practiced hours and hours on the farm lawn until he learned to walk on his 
hands. Sunday afternoons he often spent time with his cousins and Doug, 
doing such outdoor activities, or playing Monopoly and eating popcorn. Mom 
said that when they got really hungry, they would go to the kitchen and 
make fried egg sandwiches.

  Later when Ted went to Manchester College, he was able to get a job on
campus supervising the heating plant at night, He made an area there where
he could study when he wasn't tending to his duties. He studied hard and
graduated in 3 years including summers and then spent two years in graduate
study at Tallahassee, Florida at FSU for his degree in social work. A man
from the state government in Alabama learned to know Ted when he went to 
FSU and offered him a grant if he would spend two years working in Alabama.
It was his intention to do that when he came home from Viet Nam.