Editor’s note: George L. Hepp, long-time and beloved Sunday School Superintendent, passed away on Saturday, 10 July 1926, at the age of 61. Memorial services were held at the church the next day during the Sunday School hour and at his home on the following Tuesday. The typescript of this eulogy by Henry T. Muth was found in the Archives files. Spelling, punctuation, and grammar are reproduced as they appear in the original. Handwritten surnames inserted into the text are indicated by italics and brackets.
"Attendance last Sunday 328." That is what it says on the bulletin board tucked away next to the Sunday School honor rolls hanging in the north east room on the third floor of the Brother's House. It must have been too hot or too cold for the lukewarm members to venture out on this day for surely with a total enrollment of 641 including the "Home Department" and the "Cradle Roll" the ordinary attendance figure would be much higher.
George L. Hepp was thirty two years of age in 1896 when he became Superintendent of the Lititz Moravian Sunday School which he would nourish for thirty prosperous years. "Mr. Hepp" as he was addressed by everyone was not overpowering but he was gifted with blessed assurance, a vital trait in a leader.
In the business world Mr. Hepp was a vender of "Diamonds, Watches and Fine Jewelry" at 21 East Main Street, the store with the largest glass show window in town. Because of its unique dressing this show window arrested the attention of even the most casual passerby and on days when you should attend Sunday School, a funeral, or celebrate a worthy holiday, the window's blinds were respectfully drawn signifying the occasion.
