Elwood A. Way

Way—Elwood A. Way, 98, peacefully, on December 31, 2016, in Foxdale Village in State College, Pa. Ellwood was born on March 11, 1920, on Way Fruit Farm in Stormstown, Centre County, Pa., the third child of Ina Whitely and Darlington Way. A lifelong member of the Religious Society of Friends, Elwood was raised in Centre Meeting in Halfmoon Township, Centre County, Pa. (laid down in 1933), and transferred his membership to State College Meeting when Centre Meeting was laid down. He graduated from Port Matilda High School and attended Pennsylvania State University for three and a half years before returning to work on the farm rather than join the military during World War II. As a college student he served as clerk of State College Meeting and clerked the meeting several more times as an adult. In 1947 he married Emily Hobbs.

He and Emily were active in Centre Quarterly Meeting, for which Elwood served as recording secretary. He authored the book Quakers of Centre County and served as a Baltimore Yearly Meeting trustee, attending yearly sessions and representing State College Meeting. Locally he served as meeting trustee; on the Worship and Ministry, Care and Concern, and Finance Committees; and as representative to the board of Friends Cemetery in Stormstown, Pa.

Elwood’s life’s work was raising fruit and improving the Way Fruit Farm orchards. He was interested in agriculture all his life and was a 75-year member of the Halfmoon Grange, a longtime member of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, and a founding member of the Centre County Agricultural Forum. As president of the State Horticultural Association of Pennsylvania, which held its first annual meeting in 1859, he revised and edited the association’s history (published in 1985). He was a 4-H Club Agriculture leader in Halfmoon Township and served on the boards of Port Matilda Community Bank, State College Area School Board, and Foxdale Village, a Quaker-directed continuing care retirement community in State College. He was a kind and sweet gentleman who led a very productive life, and Friends will miss his wise counsel.

Elwood was predeceased by three brothers, Morris Way, Joe Way, and Robert Way. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Emily Way; four sons, David Way (Terry), Donald Way, Brooks Way (Sharon), and Stanley Way (Anne); seven grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; two brothers, Roger Way (Mary), and Ralph Way (Kamilla); and a sister, Rebecca Sticks.

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