Robert Pfeifle

Pfeifle was born on April 14, 1880, on a farm in Almont, Pennsylvania (a former crossroads village in what was then farm country, near Sellersville). His parents were Franklin (Frank) and Catherine (Headman) Pfeifle, of Pennsylvania Dutch ancestry. The family moved in the 1880s, and Bob's primary-school education was at Lansdale. The family moved to Philadelphia when Pfeifle was 12 years old. He served his apprenticeship as a blacksmith there in the 1890s. He did not like the blacksmith trade, but because his father insisted, he finished the apprenticeship; afterward, from 1899, he left that trade and took up the one he preferred, carpentry, in which he remained for decades afterward. As a young man he took up the harmonica, tap dancing, and amateur theatre. McQuade and Orpe said, "He took up boxing, and became a competent amateur, but gave up the ring, he said later, after he got "clobbered." ==Career==

In 1902, he moved to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where he continued to work as a carpenter. Mayor of Bethlehem Amid suggestions from friends and allies, Pfeifle decided to run for mayor in 1929 on a campaign of eliminating crime and corruption within the city. Pfeifle led the city through the Great Depression, during which he personally traveled to Washington D.C. to petition the government for more Works Progress Administration jobs. Such work led to the construction of the Illicks Mill Park. He also personally mortgaged all his belongings in order to cover the withdrawals of Bethlehem citizens. He led the city during World War II, when Bethlehem Steel and countless other manufacturing firms contributed to the war effort. As mayor, Pfeifle was known for a noticeable accent of Pennsylvania Dutch language in his English. His interest in boxing led to installing a boxing ring in the mayoral office for his personal use. In 1939, Mayor Pfeifle erected a 60-ft lit-up star on South Mountain during the Christmas season, reinforcing the city's nickname as the "Christmas City". ==Personal life==

Bob and Gert had 4 children, a son and three daughters. ==Posthumous recognition==

A biography of Pfeifle, Dare to be Brave, was published posthumously in 1977, co-written by his granddaughter, Jean Pfeifle McQuade, and a retired reporter, Frank Orpe. Many years later, in 2019, a plaque was installed, dedicated to his memory, near the site. The dedication ceremony was attended by local political leaders, including mayors Kenneth Smith and Don Cunningham and Pennsylvania State Representatives Jeanne McNeill and Steve Samuelson. ==References==