Walter Vincent Iglehart, Jr.'s direct patriarchal line traces back to Jacob Iglehart and Jane Perry. Walter is their fifth great-grandson. The date the Iglehart family emigrated to America is unclear as is their mother country. The Iglehart's were among the founding fathers of Prince Georges, Howard, and Anne Arundel Counties of Maryland. The Iglehart's made significant contributions to Maryland's Educational, Judicial, and Political systems. They served in the American Revolution, the Civil War, the War of 1812, the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War.
Although his physical stature was 5'7 and 130 pounds, Walter, affectionately known to his grandchildren as Pop-Pop, was an intellectual and spiritual giant to all who knew him. His life from the beginning was not an easy one. He was born March 1, 1920 into a working-class family where the average annual salary was $3,269, less than $2.00 per hour.
Can you imagine in the year 2019 working 40 hours a week and earning a gross salary of less than $80.00 per week before taxes? It became necessary for Pop-Pop's parents, Walter Vincent Iglehart, Sr. and Lillian Marie Schmidt, to share a home with his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Kurtz Schmidt, affectionately known by the family as Grandmother Schmidt. Elizabeth's husband, George Ernst Schmidt died in 1905. After his death Elizabeth's income ceased and in 1905 there were not the employment opportunities for women like there were in later years. Therefore, Pop-Pop's father, Walter Vincent, Iglehart, Sr., with two of Elizabeth's sons, George Schmidt and Frederick Schmidt contributed to the household expenses.
Walter served with the United States Army during World War II, in both the African Theater and Eastern European Theater. He was a radio communications technician during the war and carried a large heavy radio on his back during combat. This was used for communications between the military troops during combat. At one point during his service during the war, Walter was stationed at the Start and Stripes newspaper office in Soissons, France where he met his lovely bride, Hélène (pronounced: aylen) Marie Therese Scopel. The Stars and Stripes began as a newspaper and grew into a news organization that reports on matters of interest to American servicemen and servicewomen.
Walter also had a sense of humor and was a prankster at times. He relays the story of when he was growing up and living in his grandmother’s home, he reconfigured the wiring, that was in the basement, of the doorbell to ring intermittently. His Grandmother Elizabeth Schmidt would go to answer the door and no one would be there, uh oh. He was eventually found out by his Uncle Frederick Schmidt, affectionately known as Uncle Freddie. In his later years in life this talent was not lost. While recovering from hip surgery in a rehabilitation center, he disconnected the chair alarm so the nurses would not be able to find him.
Walter was also a romantic. He would sing to his wife, write her short letters, and take walks with her. One of their favorite date night activities was to drive to Ocean City.
During his career, Walter held jobs as a baker's apprentice, printer's apprentice, radio communications technician, and electronics technician. His professional career included employment with Bendix Radio in Baltimore, Maryland; Goddard Space Center in Greenbelt, Maryland; and, Fairchild Space Industry of Gaithersburg, Maryland, where he was a team member to launch satellites. Most of us remember that fateful night when Air Florida flight 90 crashed into the icy Potomac River. Walter was originally scheduled to take this flight as part of the satellite setup team.
At the last minute his schedule was changed to be part of the tear down crew. I firmly believe Divine Providence was at work this day.
Walter was captivated by anything mechanical, cars, motorcycles, air planes, you name it, he was interested in learning how it worked. As we were growing up, family and friends would often see him working on his automobiles, and not surprised to see him when he was 40 and 50 years old riding his Harley or piloting a twin engine over the skies of Maryland.
Walter had the ability to communicate and connect with everyone, making them feel they were important, that their life was important, and their contributions to society were important. Walter knew how to enjoy life as evidenced when riding his motorcycle, jeep, and sports car; piloting a small airplane; and, piloting is 14-foot wooden boat across the Chesapeake Bay. He also rode with his father, brother, cousins, and childhood friends, in bicycle races and tours around the country. Walter loved trains both model trains and passenger trains. When he and his wife accompanied the family to Ashville, North Carolina, on a family vacation, to visit the Biltmore Estate, they also visited the Tweetsie Railroad and Walter rode the train for hours and becoming best buddies with the engineer by the time the ride was over.
Walter never hesitated to show gratitude for the blessings the Lord bestowed upon him and his family. Everyone who knows Walter realizes the deep love he holds for the Lord, his wife, Hélène, his family, all children, his Country, and CHOCOLATE, dark chocolate being the best. Whenever he would see a group of children enjoying themselves, he would always say “they were worth going to war and fighting for.” His wish for everyone is to Enjoy Life, Love the Lord, Love your Family, and also remember to Love Yourself.
Walter was not much of a talker, but when he did speak, his words were profound, deep, and meaningful. His counsel would include to "think with you head, not your heart" his way of teaching how to manage emotions, think before acting, assess your surroundings, always seek out the facts, don’t follow blindly, and get ahead by thinking things through. The great lessons Walter taught by example included Love of God, Love of Country, Love of Family, and oh how he loved his wife. He also showed us how to be Loyal to God, Family, Country, and love Neighbors and how to stand firm for what we believe in.
