Pearl Espenship of Lederach submitted this photo of Russell Espenship, standing in front of his home in West Point.

Apparently the cat was very fond of Russell.


As Pearl points out:

“Rowena and Emanuel Espenship lived here for 55 years. They raised their three grandsons, as the parents passed away at an early age. The grandparents were 65 when they took on this responsibility.

“The three were Russell, Emanuel and Richard. They did a wonderful job, in this lovely 13-room house.

“After the youngest grandson, Richard, got married to Pearl Kramer (me), we lived with them and cared for them for 11 years. The grandparents died when they were aged 91 and 93.

“We have three sons, Richard, Gary and William. And the home is now the Miley Detective Agency.”

And in an updated footnote from the family, Pearl and Richard’s son, Richard, who graduated from Souderton Area High School and La Salle College, teamed up with his son, Scott Espenship, not too long ago in Florida to win the father-son division of the State Closed Family Championships, “Florida’s most prestigious such tournament, in Miami.”

The father and son complement each other in their tennis play, since Scott is right-handed and Richard is left-handed.

The Espenships have been playing doubles for 15 years. Scott is the coordinator of adult tennis for the Florida Tennis Association and Richard is a guidance counselor at an elementary school in Miami.

They have won plenty of tournaments in Florida and have been the top-ranked team in the state.

And to think it all started in a big old house in West Point.