Skip to content ↓

View entry

Back to search results

Name: LEHRER, Paul George 'Ma' and 'Pa'

image of individual

Birth Date: 18 Sep 1902 Humbolt, Nebraska

Death Date: 8 Dec 1987 Clermont, Lake, Florida

First Date: 1936

Profession: Kijabe School dormitory parents

Area: Kijabe

Married: Elizabeth b. 19 Jan 1897 Grand Island, Nebraska, d. 22 Oct 1878 Lake, Florida

Book Reference: Dow

General Information:

Dow - 'Ma' and 'Pa' Lehrer arrived as dorm parents at Kijabe in 1936 and stayed, almost uninterrupted, until 1955. Unable to have children of their own, the Lehrers were a couple looking for children to raise and at RVA they found children who desired parental nurturing as much as they wanted to give it. No parents are perfect and certainly the Lehrers misstepped from time to time. Nevertheless this stern but warmhearted couple filled a significant void in the lives of the school's students.
Pa Lehrer was a strong and physically fit man whose enjoyment of the outdoors was only equalled by a curious intellectual bent. The well-read Lehrer displayed a mind that, for the AIM missionaries of the day, was unusually independent and free ranging. Lehrer's strong mind and body combined with a genuine affection for the children to produce a father figure almost universally admired. As one student remembered, "He had an uncanny abilty to command respect and obedience without saying a word". …….. [more]
'Ma' Lehrer was neither intellectually nor physically vibrant. Her chronically swollen ankles labored under a "full figure" and kept her from the vigorous hikes her husband led. Yet, her physical impediments did not keep her from her many duties around campus …………. Whether because of her police role or her emotional unpredictability, Ma Lehrer did not enjoy the degree of veneration her husband did. The picture painted of her by the students of the period is one of an ever-vigilant spy, always on the prowl for the more mischievously inclined. …… [more]

Back to search results