Hazel Irene Musselman, GW #188

Hazel was born 26 August 1913 in Nazareth, Pa. to Paul and Estella (Hoffman) Musselman.  Paul’s occupation on Hazel’s birth certificate says “minister;” he was the pastor of the Nazareth and Plainfield MBC congregations at that time.  Hazel is the granddaughter of Gospel Worker Society founder William B. Musselman.  By 1920 the family had moved to Philadelphia, Pa. where Paul was no longer in the ministry but was a clerk in a warehouse.  In 1930 the family was in a different house in the city where Paul was a proprietor of a grocery store.  Hazel worked as a topper in a hosiery mill.  By 1940 Hazel had joined the Gospel Worker Society with her sister Claire.  Hazel had one year of high school, as reported in the 1940 census.  Hazel did not stay with the Gospel Workers.  By 1959 she had moved to nearby Parma, Ohio, where she worked as a teller for Union Commerce Bank.  Her sister Claire also lived in that city at that time.  By 1987 Hazel had married Don Wert about whom I know nothing else except that he died before she did.  In 1987 and 1989 she lived in Mineral Ridge, Ohio, which is due East of Akron, almost in Pennsylvania.  Hazel died on 26 April 2013 in Lynchburg, Va.  According to her obituary, she was retired from inner city mission work.  She did not have children but was survived by nieces and nephews including David Musselman of Lynchburg.  She is buried in Oakland Cemetery in Gaffney, SC where she had previously lived.