Residents Released or Paroled

When a resident completed all of the appropriate skill learning sets, i. e. cooking, sewing, housekeeping etc., they became eligible for supervised parole. In the early years, Hilda Jolly was the only parole officer, also at one time titled Guardian Officer.   As the resident population increased others were added to the staff, usually with the job title "investigator".  The over-worked "officers" found safe placement situations, made home or site visits, and returned non-successes to Laurelton.

Among others, these people were believed to have worked in the programs:

Hilda Jolly, Senior investigator, Parole Officer, Director of Social Services, with 44 1/2 years of service - 1922-1966

Miss Carrie E. Erdly  - 1940

Walter Zebley (?) - Investigator -  1949

(Miss) Jessie Townsend Zerby - Investigator, Social Services Department, 1949-1955,

resigned during the 1955 turmoil

Mrs. Jeanne (Grove) Zimmerman, BA  - Parole Officer, Social Worker, 1951-1954?

E. Darliss Thomas - Investigator - 1955

Marlene Corl -   Guardian - at least 20 years service

Parolees could be released to their families.

Parolees worked in citizen's private households in the area.

Parolees sometimes remained with families for their lifetimes.

Parolees were also placed at Devitt's Camp (for tuberculosis patients), various Catholic convents and charitable institutions and local retail establishments.

Some parolees would return to the campus to visit their friends and relatives or visit the Fun Fair or other activities.  Some parolees married into their host families households.  Not all parole situations or parolees were successful. One parolee frequently committed arson, one parolee attempted to poison her charges in their Harrisburg home, and many escape attempts were made with a fairly high success rate.

Ethel English married Lee Shafer - Woodward

Treva Stover married Mr. Stover.  She was later recommitted as an arsonist.

Esther Yeager worked "outside" and married Myron "Windy" Bowersox - Woodward

Anna Long released 1940 and married Mr. Heverling

Mary Snowberger - 30 - married Lewis Rudy, Jr. - marriage later invalidated

Alberta M. Elman married Stanley Guthrie - Bedford County

A resident who worked as a waitress in Mifflinburg or Lewisburg married

Annie Harmon - 1940 was paroled to work for Mary B. Jolly of Weikert.

Mrs. Dr. Glover, Laurelton, always had help

Arlene May Hess worked for many years for a Lewisburg family and they served as her guardians until she died.

Thelma Hartzell - 1956 after her discharge, she came back and testified against Walker.

Helen Kibler - 1944 Queen of the May was ordered discharged

Edith Richards - 1944 was ordered discharged

Chester F Taylor - 1976 went to Skills of Central Penna.  d. 2014

Rebecca F. Hornberger - 32 years old was discharged in 1940

In later years residents were in the "Community Placement Program" and were placed in group homes and community workshop services and some lived in boarding homes.