Ben and Nathan, 1961

Nathan Michael Zimmerman, Jr. was born 28 October 1922 in Larksville, Luzerne County, PA to Nathan and Euphemia (Marcy) Zimmerman, the last of six children. He began his working life as a teenager at the shaker chutes of the Plymouth coal mines. A year and a half after graduating high school (1941), he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps (known now as the Air Force). The U.S. involvement in World War II had just begun and he became a mechanic on the B-29 bombers. Nathan made corporal and was honorably discharged in December 1945.

He got employed as a driver for a local dress factory. On 7 April 1947, he married Frances Mary Rydzewski. They had three children: Janet, Mark and Benjamin. In 1954, he got a job as an interstate tractor-trailer driver with a local trucking company, which he did up until his retirement in 1984.

My dad passed away on 7 March 1994. He did not live long enough to see the success I’ve had in tracing our lineage. I miss him dearly and I hope I’ve done him proud.

My dad and I with my daughter, Emma

Good night, Dad...