KIMMELTON — Phyllis Ohler affectionately refers to herself as the lemonade girl.
It’s a description gleaned from an old adage: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
The reference is fitting for the Kimmelton wife and mother of a grown daughter and two grown stepchildren. Ohler has learned to persevere through life’s misfortunes.
Those lessons are passed along to others struggling in hard times.
“Some people draw a wall around themselves, and that’s not good to keep things bottled up,” said Ohler, 52. “It’s a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps type thing. I’m what they call the lemonade girl.” Nearly six years ago, Ohler was told that her son, David Dupont Jr., had been killed in a mining accident in Stoystown.
The 27-year-old husband and father of one was working for Genesis Coal Co. when he was crushed beneath a boulder.
It was a moment in time that tested her faith in God and challenged her family.
She got through that hardship with the help of family and members of “Compassionate Friends,” a bereavement group made up of people who have lost children.
“We talked, cried and laughed together,” she said. “It’s a place to grieve, and people understand why.”
Now, the 15-year machine operator at Fleetwood Folding Trailers in Somerset faces yet another loss, expecting to be pink-slipped in the coming months when her job is sent to Mexico.
She hasn’t worked since January, when she broke her ankle during a slip and fall in her driveway.
The gritty lady is determined to get through.
She cherishes memories at Fleetwood, where she met and married Terry Ohler, a maintenance worker with two children. He is expected to remain with the company.
She is seeking a career change with the help of Career Link in Somerset, where she hopes to gain the tools needed to attend college and become a physical therapist.
Terry Ohler also uses the lemonade reference when he speaks about his wife. He has seen her persist despite misfortune.
“Losing David has been real tough for her,” he said. “Sometimes she has her moments when she reflects.
“You never know what life’s going to bring and you certainly want to have a positive attitude,” he said. “She tries to shine the light into somebody else’s dark world.”
For daughter, Lori Krause, tears well up when she talks about her mom.
“She’s my best friend,” said Krause, a wife and mother of three.
“It’s doesn’t matter what’s on her plate, she always finds the silver lining.
“Anytime someone has a problem, she finds a positive way to fix it,” Krause said.
For Phyllis Ohler, there is no secret to her resiliency but her faith.
“I always tell people when God closes a door, he opens another one. But you have to look for the opening,” Ohler said Ohler.
“It’s faith in God and a loving family and having compassionate friends.”
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