Earl Ray Hart

REV. EARL RAY HART, rector of the Trinity Episcopal Church at Michigan City,

is a native of Indiana, but spent most of his youth in the far Northwest and

is a graduate of the University of Washington. Doctor Hart has found a busy

field for his constructive labors at Michigan City, where he directs the

affairs of a parish which was organized in 1835. The beautiful stone church was

erected in 1889. Since he became rector the parish has been able to greatly

broaden its functions of service through the gift of Mrs. Catherine Barker

Hickox, of Michigan City and New York City, who made possible the erection of

Barker Hall, the parish house, which was completed in 1930, at a cost of about

$500,000. Doctor Hart was born at Terre Haute, Indiana, July 5, 1894, son of

Samuel H. and Evelyn (Pearce) Hart. His ancestry is English on both sides.

His grandparents, Thomas and Elizabeth (Salisbury) Hart, were married in England

and from that country brought their family to America, locating at

Pittsburgh. Thomas Hart there engaged in the business of boot and shoe manufacturing.

Their last years were spent at Ironton, Ohio, where they are buried. Samuel

H. Hart was reared at Pittsburgh, attended public schools there, and then took

up the profession of metallurgist. He is in the metallurgical department of

the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company. He is a Knight Templar Mason. His wife,

Evelyn Pearce, was born and reared at Terre Haute, Indiana, and was educated

in the grammar and high schools there. She is a member of Trinity Episcopal

Cathedral at Pittsburgh and the Eastern Star. Her parents, John M. and

Henrietta (Morgan) Pearce, came from England. John M. Pearce while in England

followed the highly skilled trade of "tea taster," a profession little known in

America. After coming to America he was in the seed and grain business at

Terre Haute and then retired. Samuel H. Hart and wife had two children, Sidney,

who died in infancy, and Earl Ray. Earl Ray Hart received his first school

advantages at New Albany, Indiana, where his father was connected with the

steel mills. The family then went to Seattle, Washington, where his father became

superintendent of a steel plant. At Seattle Doctor Hart attended high

school, graduating from the Queen Ann High School of that city in 1914. In 1917 he

received his A. B. degree at the University of Washington and this

institution conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1926. In 1924

he was graduated from the Western Theological Seminary at Pittsburgh, and in

the same year was ordained a deacon and was ordained to the priesthood in 1925

by Bishop Alexander Mann of the Diocese of Pittsburgh. His first pastorate

was St. George's Episcopal Church at Pittsburgh, where he remained about three

years. For over two years he was rector of St. Alban's Church at Toledo,

Ohio, and in December, 1927, came to Michigan City as rector of Trinity

Episcopal Church. He is a member of the Diocese of Northern Indiana. Doctor Hart is

a member of the Lions Club, the Pottawattamie Country Club, and he enjoys

both golf and motoring. Perhaps his hobby is building mechanics and he has

turned this to advantages in the parishes where he has labored in the building and

improvement programs. Doctor Hart married at Pittsburgh, July 28, 1918,

Miss Elizabeth Rothenhoefer, daughter of Henry and Carrie (Durham) Rothenhoefer,

of Madisonville, Ohio. Her father has for many years been connected with the

Oakley Lumber Company there. Mrs. Hart attended school at Madisonville and

also at Seattle, Washington, where her family lived for a few years. She is

also a graduate of the University of Washington and taught in the high school

at Ferndale in that state for several years before her marriage. Doctor and

Mrs. Hart have three daughters, Elizabeth Margaret, born October 2, 1919,

Patricia Ruth, born November 28, 1923, and Carolyn Louise, born June 21, 1925, all

of whom attend the public schools in Michigan City.