Glen and Lydia (Wagler) Schumm
Glen Schumm was born in 1933 on a farm in East Zorra Township, Lot 33, Concession 16, the son of Henry and Edna (Schlegel) Schumm. He was the third of 11 children and had five brothers and five sisters. Upon the death of his grandfather in 1953, Glen’s maternal grandmother, Annie (Yantzi, Schlegel) Ropp, came to live with their family. Deitsch was Glen’s first language. He attended the S.S. No. 7, Facey’s Public School, and graduated from grade 8. After school, he worked as a hired man for a neighbor. Glen met his future wife, Lydia Wagler, at church.
In 1938, Lydia Schumm was born on her family’s homestead in South Easthope Township, the youngest child of Minister Daniel and Mary (Zehr) Wagler. Lydia had three older brothers and three older sisters. Lydia’s paternal grandparents lived on the farm with her family, whose first language was Deitsch. Lydia attended Hartleib’s Public School and graduated from grade 8. She met Glen Schumm through the church youth group called Lend a Hand Literary Society and they were married in 1957. Glen and Lydia farmed on the 16th line of East Zorra Township, just south of the church. They had five children. Both were lifelong members of the East Zorra Congregation and in 1971 Glen was elected as one of the first elders and lay preachers in East Zorra. Lydia is a gifted seamstress and quilt maker. They sold their farm to their son Ross and retired to Tavistock. They currently live in the Renaissance Centre, a condominium community in Tavistock.