TWELFTH GENERATION

99. Harold J. KONGABEL was born on 25 May 1905 in Guthrie, Logan Co, OK. He was buried in 2000 in Austin Memorial Park, Austin, Travis Co, TX. He died on 30 Sep 2000 in San Antonio, Bexar Co, TX.
Subject: Harold J. Kongabel (Dad, Uncle Harold, Gaga)
Date: Sat, 30 Sep 2000 11:33:18 -0500
From: "Fred Kongabel" <fkongabel@satx.rr.com>

Having kept you informed about Dad's recent health problems, I must let you know he went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ early this morning. He has been doing his best to live fully the past two weeks but he has been ready to join Mother when the time came. He passed on quietly in his sleep.
Thank you all for your prayers. To God be the glory for a life well lived.
Funeral arrangements have not been made but he will be buried with Mother in Austin.
Thanks again, Fred Kongabel

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Obituary
Harold J. Kongabel, 95

Harold Kongabel went to be with His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on Saturday, September 30, 2000. Harold was born in Guthrie, Oklahoma on May 25, 1905.

Harold was married to Mae Hopkins Kongabel on June 19, 1927. They were married for 55 years until Mae predeceased him in 1992. His two children, Fred and Carolyn, and numerous grand children and great grandchildren, survive Harold.

Fred and his wife Pat live in San Antonio and their family consists of daughter Beth Kongabel Mangum and husband Rick and their children Christine, Kelsey and Matthew; son Jason Kongabel, son Jeff Thompson and son Ralph Thompson and wife Carol.

Carolyn and her husband, Carol Vance, live in Houston and their family consists of daughter, Lynn Vance Goodson and husband Mark and daughters, Carrie, Camille and Carly; son Carroll Vance III and sons Carroll IV and Thomas; daughter Karen Vance Geoca and husband Ted and sons
Nicholas, Peter and Christian; son Harold Vance; and daughter Cheryl Vance Tucker and
husband Brian and children Andrew, Sarah, Carolyn and Benjamin.

Harold was born in 1905 on a farm to his parents, Henrietta Crocker and William F. Kongabel. He had eight brothers and sisters whom he survived. Harold's father died in 1908 of typhoid fever so Harold grew up working on the farm as he attended the small school there. Harold and Mae, who also lived in Guthrie, were classmates. Both Harold and Mae entered Oklahoma A & M, where Harold worked his way through school and graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Shortly thereafter, he and Mae married and Harold took a job with the Westinghouse Corporation where he served for 35 years until his retirement. Harold and Mae lived in several cities but resided in Houston for many years. For most of Harold's career he served in a managerial capacity and was an Industrial Manager at the time of his retirement.

In Houston Harold was very active in many civic endeavors. He was a long time elder of the First Presbyterian Church and was president of the Houston Engineering and Scientific Society. He chaired the Houston Section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers in 1955 and upon retirement received a national medal for his service to the industry.

Shortly after his retirement in 1962 Harold and Mae built a home in Lago Vista outside of Austin. Harold became very active in all kinds of civic affairs there serving on as many as six committees at once. He was named "Outstanding Citizen" in 1985. He and Mae enjoyed golf and bridge.
Harold regularly had a group of friends over to play pool at his home. Over 25 years ago, Harold was elected to the Pedernales Electric Co-op Board of Directors and was honored last year by being elected Director Emeritus. Harold and Mae loved their many friends in Lago Vista and elsewhere, as well as their large family. Harold thrived on doing all he could to help those
around him. Harold and Mae faithfully attended the Travis Oaks Baptist Church. Harold was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather. He loved his community and his country as well. All of us will miss him very much.

A Memorial Service will be held at 3:30 PM Saturday, October 7 at the Travis Oaks Baptist Church, 19615 Boggy Ford Road in Lago Vista. A private internment will take place in Austin Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, friends are encouraged to contribute to the Lago Vista Volunteer Fire/EMS Department, Lago Vista, Texas 78645. Harold was an organizer of this fine service to the citizens of the area.

Arrangements by Porter Loring Mortuary in San Antonio, Texas.

HAROLD KONGABEL
1905 -- 2000

My name is Carol Vance, and I had the privilege of being the son-in-law of Harold Kongabel for over 45 years. His two children, Fred Kongabel and Carolyn Kongabel Vance, thought it appropriate that I share some insights today about the life of our beloved friend and loved one. First of all, let me join with you in declaring this a day of celebration for the life of Harold Kongabel and for how much he meant to each one of us. Let's give thanksgiving and praise for Harold, who by anyone's standards was an extraordinary man who lived an extraordinary life for nearly a century. Most certainly, he has left us with many rich blessings that should be passed down for years to come and from generation to generation.

As we praise the Lord for his life, it would seem only fitting to focus on what made Harold Kongabel -- Harold Kongabel. I am not going to deify him, but what was it that made him so well loved and appreciated? One word stands out in my mind that describes him best. That word is character. Harold Kongabel had character and had character in abundance. His strength of character characterized not only who he was but why he was able to give so much of himself so unselfishly to so many for so long. Truly Harold was a man of principle and character.

I want to talk with you about his strong Christian character because these are qualities we should consistently seek, and Harold's role model for living is something we can take away from here. Certainly, we have tears of sadness or we will miss him greatly. At the same time, we can laugh and shed tears of joy in celebration for both his character and the many blessings we received from his life.

The first character trait I want to mention is that Harold was an overcomer. He persevered. He could face adversity and become stronger for the experience. He always applied himself through hard work combined with an optimistic spirit to overcome circumstances of life. Nothing would illustrate this character trait better than his humble beginning. If you have ever visited the little three-room frame house on that farm outside of Guthrie, you would wonder how Harold and his mother and his numerous brothers and sisters could turn around -- much less find space for a pallet on the floor. You see Harold had eight brothers and sisters. Harold's father William Frederick Kongabel, whose dad had come over from Germany, had married Henrietta Crocker. They had nine children of which Harold was the youngest. Then out of the blue, Harold's father died when Harold was only three. As soon as Harold was old enough to pick up things and carry them, like early grade school, Harold was getting up at 4:00 a.m. to milk the cow. This was just one of his many chores for the day.

Harold worked hard all of his life, and his hardest work was on that farm as a young school boy. Today it is difficult to image being without television, a computer, and a cell phone. Our parents thought it was difficult to get along without a washing machine, refrigerator, or a regular telephone. The Kongabel farm had none of the above. In fact, they did not even have electricity or running water. Thus Harold, who could only begin to study after the sun went down due to his assignments on the farm, studied by the light of an old oil lamp. Speaking of studies, Harold attended school in a one-room school house with students ranging from the first through the eighth grade. This school usually had a grand total of ten students for eight grades. Not a single year did Harold have one class mate who was in his grade. Oil lamps and teaching conditions notwithstanding, Harold studied hard enough to win the spelling bee championship for the entire Logan County.

Among Harold's tasks was the morning and evening pumping of water from the water well and then carrying the buckets down to the barn to feed the cow, pigs, and chickens. By the way, taking a bath in a tub on the porch was not fun nor was it a daily event. Often on a cold and bitter morning, Harold
had to break the ice that formed in the top of the pig's trough so the pigs could get to the water. Then, he walked to school. He told me his hardest task was bailing hay. It was a frustrating experience to get all that hay in a neat bundle.

His family may have been dirt farmer poor in worldly terms, but they were rich in what counts -- that is in a Godly spiritual upbringing. Wouldn't you have liked to have known Henrietta Crocker, Harold's mom. How did she hold it all together with no husband and so many mouths to feed? She didn't have the easiest beginning. She was a twin who did not ever meet her father, supposedly a seafaring man who never returned from sea.. Penniless, her mother put her and her twin sister in an orphanage up in Boston where she was born. The orphanage was appropriately named "The Home for Little Wanderers." The twins were separated early in life when Henrietta was put
on an orphan train. Orphan trains were trains that carried numerous orphans out west to the farms where couples in need of more help would adopt a child who could pitch in with the household tasks. Although Henrietta was adopted, she retained her own name. She must have been stout. Harold said she had everyone up early and off to church every Sunday morning without exception. Then, of course, everyone in the family had to attend the long weekly Wednesday night prayer meetings. Henrietta had instructed Harold to not even walk on the same side of the street as the pool hall when he went into town in Guthrie. One day Harold took the family pony for a Sunday afternoon "joy ride" to go see a friend. Henrietta let Harold know that Sundays were made for God and not for cavorting around the country side on the family horse.

One day I was doing a video of Harold for posterity. I asked him what games he liked to play back during his childhood. Harold said he didn't have much time for games, but on the warm summer Saturday afternoons he and the local farm boys would get together and play "Shimmee." I said what in the world is Shimmee and why didn't you play baseball. He told me that no one
owned a baseball, bat or glove (or a basketball or football for that matter) and that Shimmee took little equipment. In Shimmee, each player would get an old dead stick the size of a hockey mallet. The barefooted boys would gather three rocks. Two rocks were used for the goals at each end of the field, and they would select as round of a rock as they could find to be the ball. Then they would choose teams and bruise each other pretty good trying to drive the rock over the opponent's goal for a score. It was an early Oklahoma farmer's idea of field hockey.

Harold set goals early on in life and generally achieved them. One huge childhood project was when he wanted to win the County Fair blue ribbon with his pet pig. He fed that little pig all it could eat. It was so fat and Harold kept it so clean that the neighbors said he was a cinch to win the prize. One day the pig turned up with a little patch of fungus on its skin. Wanting the pig to be perfect and blemish free, Harold applied a whole bottle of undiluted Pine-O-Pine that he heard would do the trick. Well, the little fat pig started squealing and squealing and the skin came off making an ugly mess. This pig never made it to the fair. But next year you know what? Harold was back trying again -- with another pig, of course. That was probably one of the few failures in Harold's life. Except perhaps for his bird feeder designs in the back of the Lago Vista home. He never could figure out how to keep those squirrels out.

At the end of the eighth grade when most of the kids were out of the house, Harold and his mother moved into the big city of Guthrie, Oklahoma. They were still very poor and Harold's work would turn from farm chores to weekends and after school in the town's largest grocery. Harold told me that
he usually worked 12 to 14 hours at the grocery store every Saturday for the grand sum of $1.25. Upon entering Guthrie High School, Harold went down to the school house to register for class. A pert and pretty young lady by the name of Mae Hopkins eyed the tall, dark, and handsome Harold as he stood in line. Mae later expressed her wonderment at "that new Indian boy that was starting Guthrie High". Work on the farm had made Harold browner than most Cherokees and set him apart from the city boys. Harold and Mae's relationship developed and took a more serious turn at Oklahoma A & M. After graduation and one year with Westinghouse, Harold returned to Guthrie
to marry Mae -- a marriage that was 65 years young at the time of Mae's death in 1992.

Harold did well in high school and became Secretary Treasurer of the class and found time to work on the yearbook. Harold studied hard and was admitted to the electrical engineering college at Oklahoma A & M, now Oklahoma State. Sweeping floors and taking on any kind of work he could
find, Harold worked all of his way through five academically challenging years of college to obtain his Electrical Engineering Degree. Harold also enrolled in the R.O.T.C. He told me he had to do this to have enough clothes to wear to be presentable at college. Harold received his Second Lieutenant's bars upon graduation. All of the new Army Officers proudly displayed their calvary boots in the graduation parade -- except Harold who could not afford to buy any and marched around in his regular shoes. Harold was very proud of his grandson, Jason Kongabel, who donned his Texas Aggie Senior boots in the march around a couple of years ago. Harold was not called to active duty and only served in the Army Reserve for five years due to lack of funding and the economic times.

From college, Harold went to work for Westinghouse for the rest of his professional life. In Harold's early years with Westinghouse he still ran into some tough times. He joined them in 1927, and the big stock market crash came in 1929. Panic had struck the country and economics spiraled downhill fast. Things got so bad by 1930 and 1931 that most of the younger employees without many years of seniority were being let go. Though young, Harold was talented and industrious enough to survive the first cuts. However in 1932, with a wife and little Fred to support, the ax was going to fall on
Harold. At the last minute, his boss, Mr. Elbert Stewart, Sr. talked the powers that be into letting Harold accompany him to the Fort Worth office to be Mr. Stewart's clerk. Harold was always grateful for that providential help. Harold served under his lifelong friend Mr. Stewart in El Paso for a good number of years during Carolyn's and Fred's childhood.

Harold served Westinghouse for over 40 years. He continued to be promoted into positions of management taking on more and more responsibility. At the time of his retirement in 1970, he was managing the Westinghouse Industrial Division for several states. Also, Harold received many honors and headed up many projects, both at work and later in retirement. He was also a longtime elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Houston, and, as many of you know, he and Mae loved this Baptist Church in Lago Vista that they always attended. He served as President of the prestigious Houston Engineering Society. Harold was an truly an overcomer. He always persevered. He never looked back, never had any self-pity, and looked for the best in every circumstance of life. He proved once again that Biblical principle from Romans 5 that hardship (some versions say suffering or adversity) develops perseverance, perseverance develops character, and character hope.

Another strong character trait was his careful and meticulous preparation for every task. He possessed a desire to do everything well. The smallest job was turned into a quest for excellence. Harold was always organized and prepared. And he never shunned hard work. Accountability and taking responsibility was automatic. When he gave a talk, he prepared weeks in advance and he would go over and over it the words he would say. He would strive to be totally accurate and very informative. He could do about anything. He must have been appalled at my mechanical skills but was too kind to criticize. He fixed everything in our house including all the things I broke from my mechanical inaptitude. To watch him hang a picture was a work of art. He measured wall to wall by measuring from both the ceiling and the floor to make certain that picture was right in the middle. "Why do you measure in both places", I asked. He explained the distances from the floor and the ceiling could vary up to an inch and he wanted to get that picture perfectly in the middle. He could do about anything. He repaired dishwashers, door knobs, motors, plumbing, made grandfather clocks, and rebuilt who knows what -- all with loving care. What ever he did, he did it right.

And talk about integrity? He was the epitome of integrity. To exaggerate even a little was not in Harold's makeup. What you saw was what you got. His word was his bond. He was a straight shooter in life, as well as on the golf course. Harold and I played quite a bit of golf, and he was the only person I ever knew who never landed in the rough. He hit that ball straight down the fairway every time. He didn't hit it far, and it took him an extra stroke to get to the green. But you could bet he would bogey that hole. I don't know how many times I played golf with him and he would have 18
bogies straight. Those odds are pretty high but not with Harold. Speaking of consistency, those of you who knew his eating habits knew he liked to have lunch at high noon and dinner at six straight up. If 6:01 or ever 6:02 came around, he might not say a word. But at 6:03, you could count on hearing,
"Mae, when is that dinner going to be ready?" Mr. Consistency and Mr. Integrity. Right was right and wrong was wrong, and he didn't know what the color gray looked like.

Duty, honor, and country describe Harold as well. The American flag on the fourth of July. The parades he would never miss. He studied every candidate for office to vote intelligently. With sample ballot in hand, he would call me long distance each election for input on every judicial race. He would not vote until he knew who the best persons for those public offices were. As he lay in the hospital after this last severe heart attack, he asked Carolyn to remind Fred to get him an absentee ballot. Right after that, he asked her if she had started working on his Christmas cards yet. This was two weeks ago in September. I was going to say Harold always liked to be on time. That is not quite true. He always liked to be 15 minutes early.

Another positive and Godly characteristic was his ability to enjoy life to the fullest. And he was so grateful for everything he had. He was always counting his blessings and prior to losing his eyesight and mobility, I never heard him complain. He liked to praise people not criticize them. He felt fortunate to live in this country and to be alive. He was an humble man whose ego never got in his way -- another milestone of his character.

When he retired, I honestly didn't think he could take to retirement and enjoy the new life. Did he surprise me? He took off his watch and his tie, which he only wore if he had to and threw himself into the designing and building of their Lago Vista home and into most every facet of life in the Lago Vista
community. He had a lot of joy. He enjoyed every friend he had, the Pedernales Electric Co-Op folks who named him a Director Emeritus, (the first I believe), his golfing buddies he outlived, his bridge friends, and those in several pool playing groups who shared the regular games. I think he
enjoyed about every one he ever met. He was warm and relational and could literally both tell stories and listen to friends all day long. He always held court at every family reunion in order to keep abreast with every detail of everyone's life. He lived each day in gratitude for the opportunities God had laid before him.

I believe his strongest character trait was his love for others. He demonstrated this every day too. Now I am not just talking about an emotional love. I am talking about that true agape love, that sacrificial service to others. In fact, that epitomized his life. Those acts of kindness and goodness and gentleness. He had a servant's heart. Several times I rode with him at night as he drove the streets of Lago Vista searching for burned out street lights. Did you ever know another soul that cared whether his neighbor's street lights were working ten blocks away? Then, the next morning at 8:01 he was on the phone reporting each burned out lamp and requesting each be fixed by nightfall.

Harold couldn't pass the Volunteer Fire Deptartment without telling me more than I needed to know about the current fund raising, plus every detail about the fire trucks, and the wonderful emergency medical service. Every time we passed a Pedernales Electric Co-Op transformer on the highway, I got a lecture in wattage, voltage, capacity, and efficiency. Always alert, always interested, always serving. If a day went by without a few folks calling him for advice or asking special assistance on some particular problem, I think Harold was disappointed. He lived to help people. No wonder more than one neighbor referred to him as Mr. Lago Vista. He did not work for the credit, but at the same time no one would ever enjoy more the many honors bestowed on him. He was thrilled like a little kid when he rode in the first car of the Lago Vista parade as Lago Vista's man of the year. Thank all of you in Lago Vista for loving him and making him feel so special. Another cherished
event in his life was when he presented the Mae Kongabel Scholarship to a deserving female athlete at the annual Lago Vista High graduation. Mae had been a start basketball player at Oklahoma A & M in spite of her lack of height and also had coached an Oklahoma High School team to a national championship. Harold liked to tell of her athletic skills when he presented the
award. Yes, Harold was always looking for someone who needed help with something. Those of you here know so well the many ways he assisted so many good causes and so many people. He knew how to love.

One of the best ways to measure character is to look at that wonderful list of the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5. These, of course, are love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control. Harold had these in abundance. Of course, he might get only an A- on patience if we have to count those times someone made him late for a meeting. Certainly his life was evidence of all of these fruits except there is one I will close on that we have not discussed.

The one gift we have not talked about is faithfulness or Harold's faith. Harold didn't talk about his faith often except he often told me how he prayed every day. But rest assured he was a solid and firm believer. When he was hospitalized, he spoke of Jesus. He thoroughly understood what Ephesians 2:8 says. He understood that it is not by our good works, although Harold had good works in abundance, but by faith alone through grace that he was saved. He understood salvation came through faith and trust in Jesus and Jesus alone. He understood John 3:16. He knew that Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life and that no one came to the Father but through Jesus.

At the end, Fred and his wife, Pat, (Gaga lived with them in San Antonio the last two years) had done everything they could to prolong his life and make him feel at home even with his limited mobility and failing eyesight. But this recent and last heart failure told us God had other plans soon. When
Carolyn and I went to San Antonio when he was in the hospital, we served him communion. This was a very special time as he understood that the elements represented the fact His loving Savior had died for Him on that cross and paid for his sins. Harold was eternally grateful for that Amazing Grace that flowed from that Old Rugged Cross, his favorite hymn, and the fact he was going to heaven where there would be no more pain. We should praise the Lord that Harold only spent a couple of last weeks of confinement out of 95 years of life. But more than that, let's praise God that Harold is in the loving arms of Jesus.

Right after communion, Harold expressed how much he wanted to be able to see his grandchildren and those "beautiful great grandchildren". Even though there were fifteen grandchildren, he practiced saying their middle names. He regretted that he could not see them any longer. Today, Harold "no longer sees through a mirror darkly but face to face" as 1 Corinthians 13 puts it.

Following communion, Harold said I want to pray for all of my family. Removing the oxygen mask, Harold spoke clearly and spontaneously the most beautiful prayer and asked God's blessing on Fred and Carolyn and each member of the family -- not unlike what Abraham did for Isaac centuries
ago. At that point, we knew Harold was ready. Once again, Harold was prepared.

So today we celebrate a life well spent. "Well done thy good and faithful servant." Without pain, Harold now looks through new eyes at the wonders of heaven. 1st Corinthians tells us that no eye has seen or ear has heard the wonders that God has prepared for us. If he enjoyed life on this earth, and you can rest assured that he did, can we even begin to imagine his joy now? And as he sees Jesus, I am sure among his first words were, "Could you take me to see Mae?"

As one of those wise Proverbs says, "that as iron sharpens iron so does one friend sharpen another." Harold's character and his love and his friendship did exactly that for each of us. Praise God for Harold Kongabel. Amen and Amen.

Memorial Service in honor of Harold J. Kongabel
Travis Oaks Baptist Church, Lago Vista, Texas
Saturday, October 7, 2000

(When I spoke at the Memorial Service, I know I added a couple of things not in this text and I left a few things out, but this was what I meant to say. It was a real joy to put this together and reflect on the life of my wonderful father-in-law and friend. I want to share this with those who knew Harold because his life was a living example of what a Christian should be about. So Carolyn and I would like for you to feel free to pass this on.)

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Carol Vance II, New Year's Letter 2001

The one event that over shadowed all others (in 2000) was the loss of Carolyn's dad, Harold Kongabel, who went to be with the Lord September 30, 2000. He lived life fully and gave of himself to so many.

Gaga (as we called Harold) just about lived in three centuries. His unusual childhood is worthy of mention and helps explain his strength of character, perseverance and commitment to excellence. Shortly after the turn of the century, Gaga's mother and father moved to a little farm outside of Guthrie, Oklahoma, where Harold was born in 1905. He was the youngest of nine children. When he was three, his father died. This left his mother, Henrietta, to rear nine children in their tiny three room house. His motherr had faced some pretty hard challenges in her life, too. She and her twin sister ended up in a Boston orphanage after her father went off to sea and never returned. The orphanage was called the Home for Little Wanderers. When the twins were old enough to do domestic work, they were loaded onto an "orphan train" heading west. Families who needed children to help on the farm would meet the orphan train and adopt certain children as prearraanged. The twins were separated, but Henrietta was fortunate to be raised by a Christian family. Henrietta's beginning undoubtedly helped her to bring up nine children on a farm without a husband.

When Gaga turned five, his working life began. He wouuld rise about 4:00 a.m. to milk several cows and feed the chickens and pigs. Oftenhe broke the slab of ice on top of the pig's trough so the pigs could drink their water. Pumping up enough water from the well was one of Gaga's hardest chores as a family of ten needs many a wash tub for baths, cooking and laundry. Not only was there no running water or indoor bathroom, but the house had no electricity. Severe cold, hot summers, dust and drought were a way of life for Guthrie. Gaga worked almost every waking hour he was not in school. At night he studied by a kerosene lantern. He attended school in a tiny one room school house with one teacher and seven classmates who ranged from the first grade through the eighth. He never once had a single classmate in his same grade. Later in high school Harold rode his pony eight miles a day to get to class

During his childhood Gaga never once owned a football, baseball, glove or toy. In the warm months on Saturday afternoons, Harold played the only game the boys knew, a game called "Shimmy."
Shimmy required an open field, two rocks for the goals at each end of the field, some round object for the "ball" and "hockey sticks" straight off the tree. Then the barefooted boys knocked shins and tried to score as they played the Oklahoma version of field hockey. One year Harold had a beautiful pig that everyone said was destined to win the County Fair, the year's big event. Thhe pig got a sore on its ear, so Harold was advised to apply creosote, Harold did just that but failed to dilute the creosote. The pig's ear fell off. Undaunted, Harold entered another pig the following year.

Even with all the work, Henrietta Crocker Benson took her brood to church every Sunday and to prayer meeting every Wednesday night. She never rmissed. Years later when the otherrkids grew up and left the farm, Henrietta and Harold moved into the city of Guthrie. One day Harold went to Guthrie High School to register. Mae Hopkins, the star of the girl's basketball team, spotted the newcomer in the registration line. In contrast to the pale city boys, Harold was so much browner from working the farm that Mae asked a friend, "Who is that new Indian boy standing in line?" Harold and Mae were together from that time forward. Both attended Oklahoma A & M, but they did not marry until Harold was out of school and had landed a job. Harold worked every day after school and twelve hours on Saturdays at a grocery store and still managed to make the honor roll and be Secretary-Treasurer of his senior class. He was the only one of the Kongabel clan to attend college where he worked his way through. He joined the ROTC to have clothes (uniforms) to wear to class. Five years later Harold received his Second Lieutenant's bars and his electrical engineering degree. Soon he started what would be a successful forty year career with Westinghouse.

Harold and Mae enjoyed their "retirement" years at Lago Vista, Texas, on Lake Travis, where he started the volunteer fire department, the emergency medical service, was man of the year, and served on the Pedernales Electric Co-op Board for twenty-five years until age 93 when he was elected their first emeritus director. Harold was known as Mr. Lago Vista. He enjoyed his golf and long discussions with family and friends, but he did not have many idle moments. Not only did her survive, but his early life helped form his optimism, enthusiasm, humility and gratitude.
.

He was married to Mae Mildred HOPKINS (daughter of George W. HOPKINS and Amanda Ellen THOMAS) on 19 Jun 1927 in Stillwater, Payne Co, OK. Mae Mildred HOPKINS was born on 26 Feb 1905 in Guthrie, Logan Co, OK. She died in 1992 in Austin, Travis Co, TX. She was buried in 1992 in Austin Memorial Park, Austin, Travis Co, TX. Harold J. KONGABEL and Mae Mildred HOPKINS had the following children:

+166 i. Harold Frederick (Fred) KONGABEL (Private).
+167 ii. Carolyn Ruth KONGABEL (Private).