Charles (Chuck) Martin Byers

Charles (Chuck) Martin Byers, 85, was born to Martin and Elsie McKain Byers in Marietta, PA and entered into eternal life on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, surrounded by his loving family. He was in the second class to graduate from the new Donegal High School in 1956 and went on to Elizabethtown College, graduating in 1960 with a degree in biology. He continued his education at the D. T. Watson School of Physical Therapy near Sewickley. PA., graduating in 1961. While at D.T. Watson, he met his future wife, Jean Kohlhaas. Jean and Chuck were married in September of 1962. They embarked on an inseparable partnership that brought extensive service to their country, travel and adventure, a highly successful business, and a loving and active family that traveled and played together. The Berlin crisis in late 1961 resulted in a buildup of the military and Chuck was drafted into the Army in January 1962. He completed basic training at Fort Jackson, SC, and was then assigned to Fort McPherson in Atlanta, GA. While there, he met the Major in charge of Physical Therapy and was told that the Army needed PTs and that more men were being commissioned into the Medical Specialist Corp--- previously, the Corp was all women. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lt and transferred to Fort Sam Houston in the summer of 1962. Chuck served at Fort Sam Houston until the Fall of 1964. While there, he and Jean formed lifelong friendships with Otto and Jane and Don and Gale with whom they served and traveled extensively. Chuck was transferred to the 97th General Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany and served there from 1964-1967. While there, he and Jean traveled through Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, Switzerland and France. Their first child, Brent, born in 1965, traveled everywhere with them. They were transferred to Fort Lewis, Washington, to Madigan General Hospital near Seattle where their secondborn, Wendy, arrived. Chuck served until the Fall of 1968 attaining the rank of Captain. A devoted son and daughter-in-law, they moved back East to be near Chuck’s parents who lived in Marietta. Chuck took a job with Easter Seals. Following his dad’s entrepreneurial spirit, Chuck always wanted to have a private practice in Physical Therapy. In the early 1970’s, they began their practice by contracting with Columbia and Ephrata Hospitals and a few nursing homes. Their private office opened in the following months and grew with the help of many dedicated partner therapists and support personnel in the years that followed. When they retired at the end of 2002, their private practice included 11 outpatient offices and 52 employees. Through it all, they also had two exchange students. Tedy Victoria, from Spain, was with them during Wendy’s senior year at McCaskey in 1985-86. Kathy Hermanns was from Germany and lived with them for the school year 2001-2002. They bought a house in Vermont in 1990 and spent many wonderful and fun-filled years of skiing and family time there. They loved to travel, often with their close friends or family. They visited Germany and Spain several times, sailed the Greek and Caribbean islands, cruised the Danube River, and visited China, South Africa, Costa Rica and Norway. Chuck was a longtime member of St. James Episcopal Church where he was a lay reader and the Liederkranz Club of Manheim where he sang in the Hobby Chor. He served as a member of the Sertoma Club. He also was a lifetime member of the American Physical Therapy Association and the Pennsylvania Physical Therapy Association where he was in leadership positions in the Private Practice Section. Chuck’s health declined in 2010 when he developed memory loss which progressed through the next 14 ½ years. His wit and loving ways were present until the last months of his life when he was unable to express himself after a stroke in November of 2023. He is survived by his wife, his son, Brent (wife Bonnie Welcome), his son, Jack Byers of Boston, his daughter, Wendy Byers Wernoch, her children, Adam Wernoch of Jersey City, NJ and Lily Wernoch of Mountville and studying at Point Park University in Pittsburgh. Also surviving are a sister-in-law, Connie Byers, nephew, Craig Byers (wife Laurie) of Knox, Pa, and niece, Kristen Carter (husband Paul) of Sharon, PA, and several grandnephews and grandnieces. He is predeceased by his parents and a brother, David Roy Byers, DO. The family deeply appreciates the care given by: Moravian Adult Day Care Center of Lancaster; the VA Home Based Community Care Program from Lebanon Veteran’s Administration; Choices Hospice & Community Care; and the many caregivers who have come into their home, especially Martha, Pierre and Sileau. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend Chuck’s Memorial Service at St. James Episcopal Church on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. with The Reverend Glenn Miller officiating. The family will receive friends from 9:30 a.m. until the time of service. Interment will follow at St. James Memorial Garden. In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to: Saint James Episcopal Church https://www.saintjameslancaster.org, Alzheimer's Research https://www.alz.org/pa, Tunnels to Towers https: //t2t.org/, or Wounded Warrior Project https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/