Harold J. Eager, 97, of
Lititz
, died Sunday April 10, 2016 at Moravian Manor.
He was born in Lancaster, the son of the late Harry Thomas Eager and Anna
Roehm
Eager. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Mary
Danner
Eager, and by his three brothers, Richard, Herb and his twin, Harry Eager.
A graduate of Lancaster Boys High School (now
McCaskey
), Eager served in the Army in World War II as a second lieutenant in the 58th Infantry provisional battalion and then the 53rd Infantry. He served in the Aleutian Islands as a company commander as part of the Alaskan Defense from 1942 to 1944.
Other than the four years he spent in the Army, he worked for Lancaster Newspapers every year from 1937 to 1984. He began as a copy boy and was promoted to police reporter when the previous holder of that job went missing. He went on to be the sports editor, assistant city editor and city editor for the
Intelligencer
Journal and became the editor of the Sunday News in 1966. He won several Keystone Press Awards from the Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors and established the popular “Sunday Views” column. As a sports editor, he was the first writer to coin the term “Blue Streaks,” which became the mascot of
Manheim
Township High School. He wrote a book on Lancaster General Hospital, “100 Years of Caring.”
Eager was a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the Pennsylvania Society of Newspaper Editors, the Associated Press Managing Editors Association, the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors and the Sigma Delta Chi journalism fraternity (now known as the Society of Professional Journalists). He was also a member of the Lancaster Automobile Club, a Lancaster Rotary Club Paul Harris Fellow, member of the Hamilton Club, and an associate member of the Slumbering Groundhog Lodge.
He enjoyed golf, bowling, travel and spending time with his family especially at his summer home “The Crest Rest” in
Wildwood
Crest, N.J.
He is survived by his wife, Joyce
Schlemm
Meyer Eager; two children, Harold Jr. (Ellen) of Lancaster and Cynthia Rice (Charles) of Harrisburg; two grandchildren, Jeffrey Rice (Mary Anne) of
Boalsburg
and Alison Robinson (Gavin) of
Chesterbrook
, and a stepson, Brad Meyer (Sherrie) of St.
Petersburg
, Fla.
Memorial services will be held on Monday, April 18 at 1:00 PM in the Klein Chapel in
Steinman
Hall at the Moravian Manor, 300 West Lemon St.,
Lititz
, PA. A visitation will be held from 12:00 to 1:00 PM prior to the service in the Chapel. A private interment will be held at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to Moravian Manor –
Herrnhut
Community, 300 West Lemon Street,
Lititz
, Pennsylvania 17543.