“You can trust us to stick to you, through thick and thin – to the bitter end. And you can trust us to keep any secret of yours – closer than you keep it yourself. But you cannot trust us to let you face trouble alone, and go off without a word. We are your friends, Frodo.” LOTR, J.R.R.Tolkein "Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years." Illusions, Richard Bach "Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." C. S. Lewis "Friendship is always a sweet responsibilty, never an oppourtunity." Kahil Gibran "I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don't believe I deserved my friends." Walt Whitman
Barbin Archives I Barbin Archives II William Wilson Alexander
Gleason Archives Gerstenmaier Archives Gerstenmaier Alaska Trip Highlites
1979 Undefeated Wrestling team Archives 1976 Undefeated Jr. High Team Reunion
(Click on galleries and you are sent to the Picasa site where they are posted. Open the picture by clicking on it and then either choose download or simply right click and save as to save a picture to your computer. A limited license for personal noncomercial, unaltered use is granted to all depicted and their relatives. All other use remain subject to request for permission by the copyright holder Andrew W. Barbin).
Andrew J. Gleason, (November 23, 1905 - April 21, 2012) Grandfather and patriarch to the clan, has passed on. He was born when Geronimo still roamed free, and World War was a futuristic nightmare. Thrust early into the role of family patriarch by the untimely death of his dad Gus Gleason, he... made sure all 10 siblings, male and female, received their degrees. He was the last living exemplar of the old school political power brokers from the age of relationship politics, in which neither money nor self interest played a role in policy. A member of the Greatest Generation, he served as a counterintelligence officer stateside, while several of his brothers stormed beaches of Europe and the Pacific. His first major polical act was to organize returning Republican Veterans and restthe control of the Party from the Manuacturing interests and create a moderate coalition. He stood toe to toe with the political and business giants of his generation like IKE, Nixon, Dewey, Javits, Duff Scott, Schweiker, Heinz, Specter, Pasquerella and countless others. With Walker, Peters, Taylor, Meehan, and others he helped to steer a middle course for Pennsylvania in eras of extremes. A great communicator striding the chasm between the telegraph and the cell phone, he spoke not merely for his Party but for everyone. His loyalty was first and foremost to his family, church, friends and community. He was Johnstown's effective ambassodor to halls of power in Harrisburg and Washington, and did so without taking fee and without regard to party affiliation, when the request was in the interests of johnstown as a whole. He was inducted into both business and Polical Hall of Fames, and recieved muliple honors from the legal community including a Life Time Achievement Award from Dusquense Law School which he attended after he lost his job as a PennDOT Engineer following an election in the days before Civil Service protections. His word for good or ill, once given, was as certain as a sun rise. He lived live out loud, and fought 106 rounds with existence. Occasionally bloodied, but always unbowed, he listened attentively to all, but took direction from none. He designed and built Pinchot roads to bring Pennsylvania out of the mud, and fought for civil service protections and civil rights. His first Award recognizing his efforts on behalf of civil rights was awarded in 1964 before most people knew there was a movement. A moderate and pragmatic Republican, he was a voice of reason and compromise in eras of conflict and division. But for me he will always be a patient, kind, generous, and wise man who made me want to bring out my best in whatever I did, so that he could be proud of his progeny. He never forgot a friend in defeat or adversity, even when self inflicted; and he never borrowed enimies. He was tough in politics and law, but was unfailingly attentive and kind to all who crossed his path and treated all with respect regardless of station. Go rest high on that mountain, and accept the only crown that matters.... "Well done, my good and faithful son."
