Zion Evangelical Church today,
(412 Fifth Avenue) which
Grandpa Holtzman pastored
Grandpa Holtzman pastored Zion Evangelical Church for about two years. Daughter Ruth Holtzman was born at the parsonage next door in 1905. Grandpa Abram Hey perhaps attended Trinity Evangelical Church as a young man. When Grandpa Holtzman returned to Sterling to retire due to poor health, he again pastored Zion for about a year. Soon after, Zion ceased to exist, and its few remaining members came to Trinity. At this point, Grandpa Abram Hey and Grandma Ruth Holtzman Hey would have attended the same church.
Another group, the United Brethren, began meeting in the old Zion building. Nationally, the denominations were considering a merger, and a 1946 fire hastened the merger of the local congregations: Trinity and the United Brethren became Trinity Evangelical United Brethren.
It is this church that I attended as a child. I remember sitting next to Grandpa and vividly recall two things: looking at the communion bread bypass me and wishing I could have a piece like Grandpa, and eyeing his watch knowing that Reverend Tenney would stop preaching and walk to the rear precisely when Grandpa's watch read 11:30 a.m.
Zion Evangelical Church parsonage today,
where Grandma Hey was born
