By ANN WERTMAN

Special to The Press

Gladys M. Lutz (1909-2007) was born in Lynnport, the daughter of Frank E. and Minnie A. (Weaver) Lutz.

She attended Jacob’s Church and rests there in the church cemetery.

Gladys had two younger sisters, Alice and Miriam.

A “Berksie” girl, this was a title designating her daily train rides to Slatington High School, from which she graduated in 1926.

She earned a teaching certificate in 1928 from Kutztown Normal School and later earned a Bachelor’s degree from Kutztown College and a Master’s degree from Lehigh University.

In 1964, Gladys retired after 37 years as an elementary teacher in Lynn, Weisenberg, Heidelberg and North Whitehall townships, with many of these decades being served in one-room schoolhouses.

At this point, she began the second phase of her life by using her passion for painting and most importantly, her personal experiences to preserve and historically document Pennsylvania Dutch daily life, customs and local points of interest, such as churches and covered bridges.

A self-taught artist, Gladys worked with a vibrant color palette often painting on plywood with acrylics and even felt tipped markers.

She usually taped the manually typed history of each subject or custom to the back of each treasure she created.

Gladys often painted in a “series” of five or more titles on a given subject to give a broader education on any given topic, such as the daily household chores in a typical Pennsylvania German home.

Gladys, who spent her entire life in this immediate area, is credited with creating about 200 original paintings and many more copies.

This reporter first became acquainted with her in the 1980s when Gladys, along with her sister, Alice, tagging along to assist, appeared on the craft show circuit to share her pleasant smile, paintings and lore with customers.

She captured the hearts of many loyal followers, including me and my late life companion, Joe Zeller.

My good fortunate was to visit with these sweet, knowledgeable ladies and, of course, become the proud owners of about a dozen of her creations.

Likewise, it was a joy to visit their Schnecksville home at Christmastime and see the many table top trees decorated authentically with cookies, pretzels, treasures from nature, childhood treasures and handcrafted items, and to hear about their decades of fantastic local memories.

Learn more about Gladys by visiting WLTHS.

In the 1980s, local photographer and designer Adrienne Snelling copied and put on the market several dozen of Gladys’s artworks adorning note cards and Christmas greetings.

I purchased many of these lovely and educational cards at the time in gift shops.

Perhaps, the market for these cards dried up within a few years or Adrienne moved on to other creations but a sizable inventory of these images remained in her estate.

Four decades later this remaining treasure of “Gladys Lutz” inventory was generously gifted to the Weisenberg Lowhill Township Historical Society by members of the Snelling Family to honor Adrienne, to share Gladys’ lore and history with new generations and as a great fundraiser.

Images of selected works by Gladys Lutz are in the 2006 cookbook produced by Albany Township or the “Folk Art Memories” of Gladys’ work published by the PA German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University in 2014, based on her estate’s memoirs left to the university.

It is unlikely, however, many have seen these inspiring note cards as they have been out of widespread circulation for more than 35 years.

Anyone with an original by Gladys is asked to share a photo with the WLTHS, along with a copy of the lore which appears on the back of the painting.

Also, we would love to document personal memories of anyone who was one of Gladys’ students.

WLTHS will be officially unveiling these exclusive cards in the society’s store this month during the spring basket social.

For details, visit weisenberglowhill.org, Facebook or call Gloria Zimmerman at 610-216-1927.