Dear Mittlebeeler and friends and fans,
I am sorry for your loss. May his memory be eternal!  God bless him and his friends and fans.

Emmet Mittlebeeler was my third cousin and I'm so sorry to hear of his passing.  Such a wonderful man and he was an immense help with the family genealogy.  I enjoyed our talks on the phone and the postcards he would send from his many travels.  RIP Emmet.

Emmet was a very close family friend who began his life in Louisville, Kentucky. My grandparents were friends with his parents, so my children are the fourth generation of the families knowing each other. It all began at Fourth Avenue Baptist Church on Fourth and Oak in Louisville. Emmet's father Jacob and my grandfather George H. Weise served in the church together as deacons and on various committees. My mother was Emmet's sister's best friend. I am named after Emmet's sister, Elizabeth, who died of breast cancer in her thirties which broke my mother's heart. Elizabeth got to hold me once as a newborn and then passed away. Emmet was precocious as a youth and wrote many articles on history and politics even as young as 12 and 13. He was a loyal friend to our family and friends and whenever back in Louisville, would come to our home and after a meal grace us all with an interesting travel log of his most recent travels accompanied by a slide show. As a little girl, I remember going to his home on Grasmere Drive at Christmas time for his family's party. Again, he was always fascinating to listen to concerning his work with the Army and grilling captured Nazi generals in Germany after the surrender such as Deputy Fuehrer Hermon Geohring, second only to Hitler. He also was a cryptographer breaking codes and ciphers.  After the war, he worked in Kentucky government for awhile and wrote speeches for the Third Congressional District Congressman. He then became a professor at American University for 23 years but interestingly said he regretted not staying in government work. He was a devoted member of Bethany Baptist in Louisville and the National Presbyterian Church in D.C. He was a third degree mason and enjoyed both stamp and coin collecting. He even got me started on stamp collecting for a period of time. His travels led to Africa, much of Europe and Russia and even late in life, Iran. He will be buried next to his parents in Cave Hill Cemetery. He would like to be remembered as a scholar of world affairs and government and politics and loved the universality of mankind. His legacy is his outreach to others to help them learn so they in turn could reach others with knowledge and kindness.

Dr. Mittlebeeler was the professor assigned to lead Group 3 in 1956 which I was part of that year when I participated in American University's  Washington Semester Program as a student from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was very interested in his students' progress and always asked stimulating questions to keep them thinking. Also he  told us that one of his holiday customs at Christmas was to eat some very unusual food. After Christmas we asked him what he chose for his 1956 food. He said roasted grasshoppers. We asked him, "How did they taste?" He replied, "Salty, crispy and crunchy."  Besides being a great professor, he was a warmhearted person. I kept in touch with him by letter and by postcards he sent me from the many places he traveled all over the world. I also visited him a few times when I was in the Washington area visited my sister and her family.

He was sweet and kind to all who crossed his path.  He will be missed.  RIP Dr. Mittlebeeler.

Emmet was my mother's (Ruth Hall Granahan) first cousin.  He would occasionally visit my grandmother, Charlotte Hall. He was always spoken of fondly. I still have the orange tablecloth that he sent to me for a wedding gift!  I use it every Autumn.

To the nurses who cared for Dr Mittlebeeler in his later years of life I can say he touched them in so many positive ways. May your hearts soon be filled with wonderful memories of joyful times together and celebrate a life well lived.

I am so sorry about Dr. Mittlebeeler's death.  I enjoyed knowing him at First Baptist Church.

We are so sorry to learn of Dr. Mittlebeeler's passing. He was a lifetime family friend and was our guest many times in Roanoke.  We always enjoyed hearing of his trips all over the world.  He was a most interesting and kind man. Our sympathy to his family. Know that he will be missed. 
Sharon Stanley, Juanita Stanley,  Sarah Hobbs

So sorry for your lose. May the God of all comfort  be with you and your family in this time of sorrow PSALMS 29;11

Emmet was my mother's cousin.  He was very interested in our ancestry.  When my husband was stationed in Germany, he gave me information on the city of Lembach where the Mittlebeelers lived before emigrating to America.  Only met him when I was a child, but he generously shared what he had learned about our family history.

OBITUARY

Emmet Vaughn Mittlebeeler

8 August, 1915 – 28 October, 2015

Joseph Gawler’s Sons, LLC

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