Harriet Stapleton

Harriet Stapleton
Harriet Bernd Heilman Stapleton, 91, died Jan. 26, 2009, in Westminster Towers, Bradenton, Fla., where she was a resident for five years. She was born on Aug. 8, 1917, in the village of Egypt, Pa., to William J. Heilman and Mary E. Bernd Heilman. She attended Ritter High School, Allentown. Her paternal grandfather, Rev. Uriah P. Heilman, founded the Lutheran Home at Topton, Pennsylvania. Her maternal grandfather, Rev. Franklin K. Bernd, was a professor at what is now Kutztown University. In 1939, she married Martin Luther Stapleton of Reading, who retired from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1979. He died in 1993. Harriet graduated from Kutztown in 1939 with a degree in education and library science, and for the next 40 years was a teacher or librarian at public schools in Armstrong, Berks, Indiana, and Lancaster counties in Pennsylvania. By the 1960s, she had developed a concept of the library as a multimedia center that was in advance of her profession. She had a love of watching baseball, playing bridge, swimming and travel. She was active in Business and Professional Women and the Audubon Society. She was the first librarian of Kutztown Public Library and volunteered at the Lake Placid, Fla., Public Library and the Ruskin Branch of the Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System. She was a lifelong member of the Lutheran church. Survivors: Brother, John F. Heilman of White Oak, S.C.; daughter, Margaret S. (Peggy) Steinfurth of Palmetto, Fla.; son, Darwin H. Stapleton of Ossining, N.Y.; five grandchildren, five great-grandchildren. Services: Memorial, 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009, Westminster Towers Chapel, Bradenton, and Feb. 8, 2009, in Berks County. Arrangements entrusted to Lewers Funeral Home, Ruskin, Fla. 813-645-3231. Contributions: In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Westminster Towers, 1603 3rd Ave. West, Bradenton, FL 34205, Tidewell Hospice, 5955 Rand Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34238, Atonement Lutheran Church, 1744 Lakeview Dr., Sebring, FL 33870, or Department of Library Science and Instructional Technology, Kutztown University, P.O. Box 730, Kutztown, PA 19530.