Miriam G. Detwiler

Miriam Detwiler 1931-2025 Miriam lived with a steady and faith-filled presence all of her long life. As a mother of 6 children and wife of an adventurous dairy farmer she carried herself with quiet strength and a resourceful attitude. Miriam Godshall Detwiler, 93, of New Milford, PA died on August 5, 2025. She was born in Franconia Township, PA on October 12, 1931 to Mamie (Metz) and Jonathan Godshall. Raised by a rather studious mom and a dad with a Pennsylvania Dutch style humor, Miriam inherited a lovely blend of both. Miriam began schooling in a one-room-school-house and later graduated 8th grade from Franconia Mennonite School. On a neighboring farm, with a creek running between their farms, lived a young man who would later become her husband. Miriam often told the tale of how this guy Ralph and his brothers would dunk her sisters and her under the water as they all met at the summer swimming hole. Eventually swimming shenanigans turned into love and Miriam and Ralph were married December 25, 1952 at Spring Mount Mennonite Church. Miriam and Ralph set up house in Ralph’s parent’s apartment on Keller’s Road, Franconia. The first 3 of their 6 children were born there. Sons, Blaine (Connie), Kenneth, and Michael (Lorrie). In 1957 they purchased a farm in Jackson Twp. PA and their 3 daughters were born there; Gay (Doug), Joy (Mickey) and Crystal (Greg). Miriam and Ralph always understood that their dairy farm was merely the starting point for their children to pursue and launch their own careers. After raising their own 6 children a goodly number of grandchildren soon followed. Aaron, Rebecca, Michelle, Jonathan, Eric, Jimmy, Nate, Mitch, Luke, Noah, Gabe, Eli, and Hannah. Miriam’s refrigerator door was fully decorated with all their pictures and she would cackle while she told you endless tales of their latest triumphs and numerous escapades. She might become a little bit sad if any of her brood could not make it to her spacious Thanksgiving tables or Christmas Eve gift exchanges. She loved every one of her grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren. Miriam was always an active member of the churches she attended. She was a teacher and girls club sponsor. Given her shy personality she was often most at home in more supportive roles. She was a lifelong quilter, designing and stitching numerous quilts for family members and in support of the relief efforts of Mennonite Central Committee. In her later years, after moving to a senior apartment she helped out with New Milford Methodist Churches’ ‘Feed My Sheep’ program. During 3-week visits to Chambersburg she volunteered mornings at Cumberland Valley Relief Center. Her Christian faith was solid. She read bible stories and Aesop’s Fables at bedtime. She managed her dairy farm household with steadiness and good humor. She loved gardening and pasture walks to pick huckleberries and wild blackberries. A slice of fresh warm blackberry pie with a dollop of vanilla ice cream is a memory not soon forgotten. Miriam was preceded in death by her husband Ralph, her son Kenneth and 8 siblings Willard; Ernest, Jonathan Newton, Eva, Anna, Stanley, Linnaeus and Verna. A funeral service will be held at Noon on Saturday, August 9, 2025 at Lakeview Mennonite Church, Susquehanna, PA. Interment will be made in Lakeview Cemetery, Friends may call from 10 until noon, prior to the service at the church. Arrangements entrusted to the Tuttle-Yeisley Funeral Home, Inc., Hallstead, PA. Should friends so desire, expressions of sympathy may take the form of a donation to Barnes-Kasson SNF, 2872 Turnpike Street, Susquehanna, PA 18847.

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Miriam G. Detwiler

August 5, 2025