Philip, the son of Benjamin Gruner and Ellen White Fant, the grandson of Wenzel Gruner, has been blessed with a full life that has spanned much of the twentieth century and now continues into the twenty-first. He has lived through the century that parallels some of the greatest technological advances known to civilization. Born only a few years after the first flight at Kitty Hawk, he witnessed the televised landing of men on the moon in 1969 and noted the awe-inspiring expansion of space exploration since that time.

His interest was natural. His career as an automotive engineer began in the age of the Model-T Ford. During WW2, he was assigned as an aircraft engineer in the age when the B-29 was born. The automobiles and airplanes he knew have long ago become museum pieces. Today, planes fly at several times the speed of sound, men live for months at a time in space, and guide their vehicles on earth by satellites. What a great period of history to which he has been a witness!

Today, his steps grow slower and he has suffered a few health problems, but to those of us who know him, he is a legend in his own time.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Phil! May God continue to bless you.


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