John's Favorite Models: His Sister Esther and her Husband Clarence
Photography by John Fass
Above: Esther and Clarence in the United Nations Building, New York City
Above: Esther and Clarence along the Susquehanna River
John Fass owned his parents' former home in Lititz, PA, although his career kept him in Manhattan. John's sister lived in John's Lititz house with her husband Clarence Wert, who was a printer with the Lancaster Press company.
John frequently returned to his hometown Lititz to visit his sister and his other relatives. Esther and Clarence were John's favorite models. John eventually willed his estate to his sister, which was valued at $115,729.30 upon John's death in 1973.
Above: Esther and Clarence in Central Park
Above: Esther and Clarence at the United Nations Building
Above: Clarence fishing the Hammer Creek
Above: Esther doing the laundry in high heels
John's sister Esther and her husband Clarence lived in John's house at 242 South Spruce Street in Lititz. John's mother had also lived there until her death in 1952. John owned this house until his death, when he willed the property and most of his estate to Esther, who live here for another 10 years. John Fass was a generous brother.
Above: Esther and Clarence with John and Esther's mother Sara at the Hershey Rose Garden
John's mother was Sara Stroble Fass (born 1865 - died 1952). She was a widow for 20 years, after John's father David died in 1932.
Sara and her family were members of the Lititz Moravian Church. John also was related to the earliest Mennonite settlers of this community, through his mother Sara, whose mother was Magdalena Gingrich Stroble (1831 - 1865). So John was the great-great-great-great grandson of Christian Bomberger, the 1722 German Mennonite immigrant who was the earliest European settler in the Lititz area.
Above: Clarence posing at the Furnace Hills sign, north of Lititz
Above: Clarence and Esther's car, in front of the Fass house at 242 South South Spruce Street in Lititz.
Above: John Fass in the backyard of his South Spruce Street house in Lititz