Herb and Shirley (Roth) Wagler

Herb Wagler was born on a farm in East Zorra Township in 1939, one of the youngest of Joseph and Drusilla (Ruby) Wagler’s 12 children. He had six sisters and five brothers. Deitsch was the first language of the family. Herb attended the S.S. No. 7, Facey’s Public School, and graduated from grade 8.  He worked as a carpenter most of his life and semi-retired in 1995 due to his arthritis. Herb enjoys speaking Deitsch and encourages others to continue using the language.

In 1939, Shirley Jean (Roth) Wagler was born in East Zorra Township, the oldest of Almon and Annie Mae (Ropp) Roth’s six children. She had two sisters and three brothers. During her childhood and youth, Shirley’s family moved often and she attended various public schools. She did not have the opportunity to attend high school and worked in a factory in New Hamburg before her family moved to a farm near Hickson and later Harriston. Shirley worked at St. Mary’s Hospital in Kitchener until her marriage to Herb. They met when Shirley’s family lived across the road from the Wagler farm. Herb and Shirley married in 1966 and have two daughters and two sons. Herb built the house in Tavistock where they raised their family and currently live in retirement. They are members of the East Zorra Mennonite Church, where Shirley served for many years as the church historian.

In this clip, Shirley and Herb talk about “charming,” also known as “powwowing” (Braucherei in Pennsylvania Dutch and Wilmot-Tavistock-Milverton Deitsch). This practice of traditional healing was widespread among Pennsylvania Dutch speakers, as discussed in this clip from an interview with a woman from Northampton County, PA, made in 1984.