Charles Wilbur Haarlammert

Charles Wilbur Haarlammert was born in 1918 at the family home at the corner of Bloome and Keller Roads in Indian Hill. He attended Madeira and Twenty-Mile Stand Schools for the first grade and began the second grade at Concord School. In the fall of 1931, the family moved to Clermont County and built the house and barn at their farm on State Route 28 east of Goshen. He graduated from Goshen High School in the class of 1936. Following graduation, Wilbur worked for the Farm Bureau Co-op in Batavia and later operated a cutter grinder for the Cincinnati Milling Machine Co. in Oakley until the outbreak of World War II. He was inducted into the Army and was sent to San Louis Obispo, California for basic training. It was at this time that the Army-Air Corps was being formed and although he was discouraged from taking the test because of his lack of any additional education beyond high school, he qualified for the Air Corps Cadets and was commissioned a lieutenant bombardier in the 8th Army-Air Corps Heavy Bomb Group. He survived 25 missions over Europe and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross - a very significant achievement given the fierce nature of the air combat over Europe. After returning from the European theater of war, he moved back to Goshen Township where he purchased the farm formerly owned by the families of David and Raymond Irwin. He began working as a custodian, assisting Meredith McDaniel in the Goshen School building and as well as driving a bus. In the evenings, weekends and summertime, he also attended Wilmington College to earn a teaching degree and Miami University to earn a Masters Degree in School Administration. In 1953, he became the first principal of the Goshen's new elementary school, now known as the Marr/Cook Building. After retiring in 1974, Wilbur continued to be active in the Masonic Lodge and other organizations such as Retired Teachers Association and Clermont Senior Services.