Michael Peiffer is hugging a 240 year old Sycamore tree probably planted around 1773 by settler William Black.
The Peiffer Memorial Arboretum and Nature Preserve, honors the legacy of Howard and Rosemarie Peiffer advocates of agriculture and land preservation in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
The preserve is open to the general public and available for educational purposes, special events,
civic meetings, weddings and the like. OPEN in SUMMER 2024, is a dedicated mountain bike trail in cooperation with THE LINK and West Shore Composite Mountain Bike Team.
NO DOGS ALLOWED!
Today, we are gathered here to honor two exceptional people: Howard and Rose Peiffer, my close friends for almost fifty years. I miss them! Tall and handsome, Howard Peiffer, from Reading, Pennsylvania, graduated from Albright College and earned a PhD from Pennsylvania State University. After a sojourn of seven years in Baltimore, he was recruited by AMP to develop a metallurgy laboratory, and moved to New Cumberland. He was quite successful and rose in the ranks of management, so that at the time of his retirement he held the position of Senior Vice President of Global Technology. My friend, Howard, was a true renaissance man. He was a gemologist, metallurgist, horticulturist, forester and all-around intellectual. I do not ever recall him being uncomfortable in discussing current events, politics, or almost any other subject. He was a recognized authority in his chosen profession and often was called upon as an expert witness. He held professorial appointments at Penn State-Middletown and was a Visiting Professor at Beijing Polytechnic University in China.
Beautiful and charming, Rose was raised on a farm in Schuylkill County and considered herself a “simple farm girl”. She trained at the Reading Hospital and was a licensed Registered Nurse, but aspired to a career in medicine. Accepted at one of the most prestigious medical schools in the country, the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York City she gave up that career in favor of a life and family with Howard. But she was no simple farm girl! With her children grown, she developed an interest in politics and was elected to the New Cumberland Boro Council -for the right reason- she wanted to contribute to her community. I remember her telling me that she returned a holiday turkey sent by a local contractor who did business with the boro. Not for her!
She then decided to run for Cumberland County Commissioner in 1979 and was the first woman ever elected to that office. After one term, she chose not to seek re-election – also for the right reason. She was paired with seemingly corrupt co-commissioners of the opposing party and felt that she would be tainted if she continued in that position. We spent many hours struggling with that dilemma and her integrity was always paramount. Being in their company was always a pleasure. One always had the feeling that it was time well-spent.
Rose, and Howard, repeatedly expressed a desire to contribute to the community and a love for the land. They served on multiple high-level Boards, task forces, committees and commissions. But not as well known is that they made a major financial contribution to establish two scholarships at Penn State University, one in Agriculture and one in Material Sciences. They also funded an annual 4-H award in Cumberland County, and set up 4H endowments in Carbon and Schuylkill Counties. Their homestead abuts this property. There, they created a two acre mini Garden of Eden, by planting interesting trees, shrubs and flowers. Howard had a greenhouse appended to their home where he grew a large variety of orchids. This Arboretum is designed for the education and pleasure of the community and is a gem in the heart of Cumberland County, available to all. Howard and Rose were a beacon. Its three most prominent rays were always integrity, loyalty and community… goals to which we all might aspire.
I am certain that Howard and Rose are somewhere smiling and proud at today’s events. David is the apple which has not fallen far from the tree. It is his vision we see here today, helped by his sons, Daniel, Aelon, and Michael; and his brother, Eric. I believe I speak for his father, his mother, all of you here today, the community and myself in saying to David, “WELL DONE” and THANK YOU!
Dr. Howard R. Peiffer
SAVED FROM DESTRUCTION
In 1969, 163 acres of beautiful farmland and forest owned by John Fox (Lower Allen Township) was sold to a Philadelphia developer to construct a high density planned residential development. The land was stripped of trees and recontoured for the construction of what was known as Foxlea. The project eventually went bankrupt and the land sat for almost a decade scarred and barren. In the 1980-90's new developers moved in and Beacon Hill and a few other neighborhoods were constructed. Plans were made to expand new housing on to lands now owned and managed by the Peiffer Arboretum and Nature Preserve. In 2007 these plans were stopped when David H. Peiffer (Left-seen in 1997 looking on at the destruction) purchased the property vowing to preserve what remained of old forest, wildlife, and streams.
Copyright © Peiffer Memorial Arboretum and Nature Preserve Inc. All rights reserved 2024
The Peiffer Memorial Nature Preserve Inc. in New Cumberland, Pennsylvania is an arboretum and wildlife preserve.
Former Cumberland County Comissioner Rosemarie C. Peiffer
About the Arboretum and Preserve
Dedication and Remembrance
Remarks by Dr. Michael Geduldig
August 5, 2018