Robert J. Happ

Happ—Robert J. Happ, 71, on March 26, 2019, suddenly, at home in Chalfont, Pa. Bob was born on February 16, 1948, in Doylestown, Pa., the oldest son of Jane and Joe Happ. As a young teenager, he began working at Bountiful Acres in Holicong, Pa. He graduated from Central Bucks High School in 1966 and studied ornamental horticulture at Delaware Valley College. He continued to work at Bountiful Acres and later worked at Peddler’s Village in nearby Lahaska, Pa. In May 1977, he began courting Beth Taylor. Two days before their marriage in 1979, they received an offer to buy back Beth’s family’s 1793 stone farmhouse in Chalfont which had become a shell after being vacant and falling into disrepair. They bought it, and they and their family lovingly restored the house and grounds.

He and Beth began attending Friends meeting. They were an integral part of the rebirth of Plumstead Meeting in Doylestown, which had been laid down in 1869. Beginning in the 1960s, the meetinghouse had been used by Friends from nearby meetings for yearly Christmas Eve candlelight service, summer worship, and occasional weddings, including his and Beth’s wedding. In 1988, Bucks Quarterly Meeting approved Plumstead Worship Group. He built and tended the fire in the woodstove, maintained the building and the grounds, and restored the meetinghouse as lovingly as he did his own home. He greeted every newcomer to the meeting. In 2003, when Plumstead was approved as a monthly meeting, he was the first member. He served on the Bucks Quarterly Meeting Oversight Committee, taught First-day school, and hung a swing for the children from a venerable shagbark hickory tree.

After 50 years, he retired from Peddler’s Village, where he knew the genus and species of every tree and shrub, and where his hands had touched every brick of every walkway. He never stopped working on the family house. A beloved “Pop-Pop” to his grandchildren, even before they were born, he planted trees to grow into good climbing trees for them. He and Beth were regular attenders for years at the peace vigil in Doylestown. Bob will be deeply missed and forever loved.

He is survived by his wife, Beth Taylor; two children, Mia Pisano and Jessica Pisano; a son-in-law, Paul Sackley; four grandchildren; his siblings and siblings-in-law; and many nieces and nephews. Memorial contributions may be made to Camp Onas, 609 Geigel Hill Road, Ottsville, PA 18942, or to Plumstead Friends Meeting, 4914-A Point Pleasant Pike, Doylestown, PA 18914.

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