Harry Botts was born and raised in Millersburg, but it was in Germany while serving in the Army in the 1940s that he would meet his future wife, Gaby.
Harry served in the infantry and was with the Army as it swept through France and into Germany. One of his last assignments during the war was to guard a battalion of 8-inch guns.
After the war, Harry served in Germany as a quartermaster and had to make several calls each day through a switchboard. One of the switchboard operators he dealt with was Gaby and they eventually met and dated.
Gaby grew up in Wuerzberg, but lost everything in the war as her city was 80 percent destroyed. She lost her father too, a veteran of World War I, in the second World War. She and her family went to live with grandparents after their home was destroyed.
Harry and Gaby met in 1947, were married in 1948 and Harry was soon sent home. The Army did not want married couples making money by reselling items they could purchase at the Army PX, including expensive cigarettes, Harry said. On the open market, a carton of cigarettes was worth $200 then.
When the Botts returned to Goshen, Harry applied for and got a job at Goshen Sash and Door. He also remained in the Army Reserves and was called into active duty during the Korean War. He was called to duty, went for training in Washington state and then went to central California, rather than to Korea.
He and Gaby and their 2-year-old daughter lived for a time at Paso Robles near Breckenridge, Calif.
“I asked how hot does it get here,” Gaby said, and she was told that it can reach 120 degrees. She said she spent her days out of their small mobile home.
The family was in California about a year, but the Korean war ended and they returned to Goshen. Harry returned to Sash and Door and had a short stint selling life insurance before he and Harold Lantz started Middlebury Church Furniture.
Family and work
During their years in Goshen, Harry and Gaby raised a daughter, Inge Longpre, a retired school teacher now living in Stevensville, Mich., and a son, Mark. Mark and his wife, Kim, who live in Middlebury, have two sons.
Harry and Harold operated their business until the recession in the 1970s, when they sold it. At that time, Harry explained, their son, Mark, was asked to make cabinet doors for a home builder, and he did so. From that project, Mark started the Middlebury business Doors & Drawers. Harry went to work for his son and they worked together for 19 years.
“It was the greatest 19 years,” Harry said.
Gaby worked 22 years with Goshen Credit Bureau and Goshen Collection Service.
“I really enjoyed it. I became a close friend of Rosealene Long,” she said.
After they raised their family in Goshen, Harry and Gaby moved to a large house on C.R. 40 north of Millersburg that was perfect for entertaining and raising their grandsons. The home has a backyard pool, which the family uses to entertain guests, including many Goshen High School exchange students. Gaby is known for her volunteering in Red Cross, Camp Fire and Cub Scouts and the Goshen Sister City project with Bexbach, Germany.
“I have been volunteering all my life,” Gaby said. “I was in the Red Cross as a teenager. Hitler did encourage volunteering.”
When Inge was in Camp Fire, the family volunteered and even Harry joined Camp Fire. Then when Mark was in Cub Scouts, Gaby served as a den mother.
In 1980, when a group from Bexbach, Germany, visited Goshen, Gaby became involved in the Sister City project.
“Earl Sample and Mary Jo Beck needed volunteers, especially those who could speak the language,” she said.
She was Goshen chairwoman for 21 years and visited Germany several times.
She recently turned the job over to Ingrid Simmons, another Goshen woman who came here from Germany.
“We’ve had 1,000 people visit here (from Bexbach),” she said, with several repeat visitors.
Gaby returned to Germany each year to help her mother celebrate her birthday on Nov. 27. She took two-week trips and spent one week with her friends in Bexbach. Gaby’s mother lived to age 99.
Gaby also has two brothers living in Germany, but “it’s not the same” visiting family without her mother there.
Gaby also worked with Goshen schools officials, finding homes for German exchange students.
She said that this fall there were 13 visitors from Bexbach who came to Goshen, including the mayor.
Eleven years ago, there was a young man from Germany who wanted to come to Goshen, and Gaby told him to “just come,” and she would find him a home. He stayed initially with Botts and did not move away, but stayed the whole school year.
That year there were nine international students at Goshen High School and the young people spent a lot of time at the Botts’ home, often at impromptu pool parties.
“We’ve had seven students here from the Bexbach area,” she said.
GHS sports fans
Harry is a long-time Goshen High School sports fan. When they lived in Goshen, he would meet his neighbor, Larry McAdam, and walk two blocks to the football games. They were joined by another friend, the late Jack Brookbank.
The Botts have watched the cross country runners who have been coached by Inge over the past 20 years, becoming team parents. They are known for taking animal crackers for the runners to enjoy.
Harry said he has read The Goshen News since moving back to Goshen and enjoys keeping up with high school sports.
The couple recently took McAdam for a tour of the downtown area, as he had a career in the downtown. They discussed what businesses are in the various buildings downtown, and appreciated the new benches on the Main Street sidewalks.
The Botts said they don’t escape from Goshen during the wintertime, as they want to stay here with family.
“The snow doesn’t bother us a bit,” Gaby said. She said they do not fear becoming snowbound in their C.R. 40 house.
After 36 years at their two-story C.R. 40 home, the Botts now plan to downsize, moving into a Goshen condo. A for-sale sign is in the front yard of their home now.
