Family Unit

Walter Heiliger was born in 1944 and grew up in rural Carroll County, Maryland, the second of three children. Walter, who describes himself as “severely hearing-impaired,” encountered difficulties in school and in connecting with others growing up, as he did not receive support for his hearing issues. Over the course of his career, Walter worked in a number of different positions at a variety of companies, including Head Ski Company and Black and Decker in Maryland and York Technical Institute and Freezing Equipment Sales in Pennsylvania. Now retired, he currently works part-time as a custodian at South York School District. Although he was aware that he was interested in men early on and had several relationships with men, he decided to marry a woman in an attempt to live a “normal” life. While the marriage was unfulfilling on many levels, Walter credits his wife for greatly improving his quality of life by getting him hearing aids and speech therapy, and it was through that marriage that Walter was able to have his three children. Walter came out in 1999, then in his mid-50s, and describes the varying levels of support he’s received from his family. Since coming out, he has slowly become more vocal in the LGBT community, joining PFLAG in Mechanicsburg for a time, attending programs for seniors through the LGBT Center, and working part-time at Altland’s Ranch in York. In this interview, Walter shares stories from his life, including his relationship with Bill, his most serious partner since coming out, who passed away in 2006. He also discusses the importance of reaching out to seniors in the LGBT community, as well as married men, and the idea of LGBT rights as a human rights issue rather than a political one.

Mary Margaret Hart and Lynn Daniels are a married lesbian couple living in Central Pennsylvania. Lynn was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1931, while Mary was born in 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio. Throughout the interview, Mary and Lynn discuss their childhoods, how they met, and the difficulties of raising a family together in Central Pennsylvania during the 1980s. Mary, a therapist, had previously been married and had two children with her first husband, John, before meeting Lynn while completing graduate school. The couple discusses raising their daughters, Rachel and Sheila, at a time and place without other lesbian parents as role models. The two stayed active in the gay community, and they recount the differences they’ve observed growing up two decades apart, as well as what they’ve observed of their daughter Sheila’s experience, who is also gay. The couple married in 2014 after being together for 35 years.

Chris Dietz was born on April 6, 1975 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He lived in Carlisle shortly after he was born, before moving to Perry County with his parents and younger sister. There, he attended West Perry School District and participated in many extracurricular activities. From high school, Chris was accepted to Penn State and studied engineering until he graduated. In this interview, Chris shares his experience with coming to terms with his sexuality at 30 years old as a life-long member of the United Church of Christ Christian church, and in turn how it has influenced his parents’ perception of him. He also expands on his achievements both as a manufacturer and a community leader. Chris worked as a mechanical engineer for a printing press until 2009, and now is a project manager at Alfa Laval, a manufacturing company for heat exchangers. Chris was appointed to Millersburg Borough Council in 2006, and has been a part of local politics ever since. Chris ran for state representative in 2012. The interview concludes with Chris’ thoughts on social change in the future for LGBT rights and transgender awareness.

Margaret “Peg” Dierkers was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1957 and attended a Catholic school as a child. She earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Ohio State University, and eventually enrolled in a doctoral program in Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State University. Peg relocated to the Harrisburg area, and soon began working for the South Central AIDS Assistance Network (SCAAN), which assisted individuals and families of those with HIV/AIDS. After leaving SCAAN in 1994, Peg has continued working for other social justice causes including the Domestic Violence Coalition. In this interview, Peg discusses her relationships with both male and female partners, raising her two daughters in the Harrisburg area while involved in a lesbian relationship, and her struggle to fit into the lesbian world after her marriage to a man. Peg goes on to discuss her family’s acceptance of her sexuality, and the importance of spirituality in her life. She describes her on-going participation in the LGBT Center of Central PA’s History Project, and the importance of the Center for the LGBT community of Harrisburg.

Tammy del Sol was born in 1963. In this oral history, she discusses her college experience at several institutions, playing racquetball, her father’s (now her own) dental practice, her close-knit family, her artistic side, her relationships with different girlfriends, and her continuing friendship with her ex Jen. Tammy also talks about her relationship with their three children who were conceived through several different sperm donors, all of whom were friends of the couple.  Tammy discusses the importance of the extended LGBT family that includes friendship and relationships with exes and how this network has helped her and her former partner raise their children. Tammy identifies as a “New Ager,” someone who enjoys many aspects of different religions, but who primarily is drawn to spiritualism. Though she has run a dental practice for 22 years, she would like to pursue other business ventures after the next five or six years, which may include screenwriting. Tammy also hopes that her business will become a “home” for people in the LGBT community who otherwise would not find a place where they could feel safe. The interview also touches on current politics and the future of social justice under the Trump administration.

Peggy Allan grew up in Oregon, where she attended Northwest Christian College for a year before marrying and having two sons with her first husband, Gary, a pastor. After 10 years of marriage, while the two were living together in Northern California, Gary came out as a gay man, and the two divorced. Peggy then married her second and current husband, Don, whom she has been with for 40 years and with whom she has another son. In this interview, Peggy discusses the initial struggles she and her sons faced in their relationship with Gary after his coming out, and then the later friendship that she and Don developed with Gary and his partner, Hal, and the family unit that they all came to form, including Peggy’s children. She describes how her lifelong friendship with Gary and Hal brought her to understand and become a great supporter of the LGBT community in Northern California, especially in trying to help foster open and affirming faith communities there, and how she and Don have continued to support the LGBT movement since their retirement and move to Lancaster in 2007.