Founders

45th Anniversary Exhibit Openings

Theme 5: Well-being & Community: The Good Life at Pennswood (concluding with Shadowlands, a short play written about our founders) Theme 4: Community – A Splendid Patchwork Quilt Theme 3: Environmental Stewardship, Community Spaces, and the Wider World Beyond Theme 2: Early Marketing & Intergenerational Community Theme 1: Celebrating our Heritage Topics: not assigned community | Environmental […]

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Community

Community A values-based, caring, intentional community. Topics: not assigned community | community | Customs & Culture | Customs & Culture | Demographics | Demographics | Environmental Stewardship | Environmental Stewardship | Events | family | Intergenerational Activities | Intergenerational Activities | peace | peace | Pennswood | PV Services | PV Services | Quaker | Residents Past and Present | Residents Past and Present | unity

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Richard Yarnall

RICHARD YARNALL (d., 2013) was a graduate of Germantown Friends School.  He earned his bachelor’s degree from Colgate University and his Masters in Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.  During World War II, he served in the American Field Service with the British Sixth Armored Division in the Italian campaign.  He was a sole proprietor

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Robert Teel

ROBERT “BOB” TEEL (d.1983) held degrees in journalism and educational psychology from Temple University.  He spent his career as the Personnel Manager at Dun & Bradstreet of NY and was a member of the NY Personnel Management Association.  After his retirement from Dun & Bradstreet, he worked at George School developing a deferred giving program. 

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George Otto

GEORGE OTTO (b. 1903; d. 1996) was described in the Philadelphia Inquirer as a “community builder.”  For 40 years, George and his partner operated Penn Valley Constructors, Inc.  The firm built custom homes in Bucks County, but also built pioneering, integrated communities in the region, an expression of George’s Quaker beliefs in equality and affordability.

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Barbara Jacobson

BARBARA JACOBSON (b.1915; d. 2011) grew up in Rose Valley, PA.  She studied piano with Nadia Boulanger in Paris (1931-32), graduated from the Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr in 1933, and earned a bachelor’s degree in set design at Bennington (VT) College.  She became a school administrator in 1943 when she joined Gwynedd Friends Meeting

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John Hollister

JOHN “JACK” STAPLER HOLLISTER (b. 1914, d.1988) was born in Trenton, NJ, of Quaker parents. A George School graduate (class of 1931), he was tall (6 ft. 6 in.) and athletic, captain of the tennis team.  He went to Brown University.  He and his brother Charles both took a year off and rode bikes through

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Sidney Cadawallader II

SIDNEY “SID” CADWALLADER II (b. 1933; d. 2015) was born and lived most of his life in Yardley, PA.  He attended Fallsington Friends School, George School, Swarthmore College, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  He practiced law on the Main Street of Yardley for 60 years. He and his wife Carolyn and their four

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Elise Ludeke Barash

ELISE LUDEKE BARASH (b. 1915; d. 2010), the second of four children, lived a long and full life that touched the lives of many people.  She had a passion for sailing (learned from her father), gardening, and tennis.  She adored children and quickly developed a special rapport with them. Early in her life, Elise had

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Pennswood’s Founders

PENNSWOOD’S SEVEN FOUNDERS were all “weighty” Quakers who had some connection with George School, either as students and/or as George School board members.  They were also life-long friends and knew each other socially. Each was multi-talented and civic-minded.  They shared a commitment to the creation of a caring, values-based, intentional community for adults 65 and

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