Don Yoder, 93, professor of folklore at University of Pennsylania

BACK IN THE early days of Pennsylvania, Christmas was frowned on by certain sects, faith healing was encouraged, New Year's was celebrated with gunfire, and a good snort of whiskey was just the ticket for aches and pains or just chilling out after a tough day in the fields.

Don Yoder was a fount of such esoteric information, which he imparted to University of Pennsylvania students as a professor of folklife for 40 years, and anyone else who would listen.

And lots of people listened. He was co-founder of the popular Kutztown Folk Festival, toured the region with his collection of religious folk art, lectured widely and wrote 17 books.

He died Aug. 11 of an aneurysm. He was less than three weeks from his 94th birthday, Aug. 27. He lived in Devon, in a restored stagecoach inn.

Don Yoder, who was born in Altoona, was devoted to the history of Pennsylvania, especially the folkways of the Pennsylvania Dutch. He described himself as an "incurable Pennsylvanian."

"It is rare when the measure of one's impact on the lives of others takes on a dimension that is vastly greater than that which is normally allotted to a single human lifetime," wrote Patrick J. Donmoyer, of the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center of Kutztown University, in a tribute to Yoder.

"Such is the case with Dr. Don Yoder, who was a visionary, the leading cultural advocate for the Pennsylvania Dutch, and the father of the folklife movement in America.

"Although his legacy is most decidedly felt among the Pennsylvania Dutch of his native state, his influence has extended across the nation and into Europe, where he inspired the lives and work of countless individuals."

Yoder's influence even had an impact on the works of the late German composer, Paul Hindemith, as well as the writings of H.L. Mencken.

Yoder's longtime friend and cousin, William Woys Weaver, director of the Keystone Center for the Study of Regional Foods and Food Tourism, said Hindemith corresponded with Yoder about folk tunes and used some of the music Yoder provided in his own work.

"Mencken was interested in dialect words," Weaver said, "so he and Don corresponded about that and Don provided him with material."

Mencken, the writer whose biting satire amused readers in the 1920s and '30s, was an organizer of the Society of Pennsylvania German Gastronomes in 1928, Weaver said.

Yoder was renowned as a popularizer of folk history. Among his books is 2003's "Groundhog Day," in which he traced the history of the tradition that a groundhog can predict the weather, a cherished observance in Pennsylvania where "Punxsutawney Phil" emerges every Feb. 2 to check out his shadow.

Yoder wrote that the tradition goes back to a German superstition that when a hibernating animal emerges from its den and casts its shadow winter will last another six weeks. No shadow, spring is nigh.

Don Yoder was born to Jacob H. Yoder and the former Ora M. Cronister. He received his Ph.D in religious studies from the University of Chicago in 1947. He taught at Franklin & Marshall College for five years and later at Muhlenberg College before joining the Penn faculty in 1956. He founded the first folklife studies program in the U.S.

Donmoyer wrote: "Known for his gentle spirit and a playful sense of humor that even found its way into his most serious work, Dr. Yoder's generous sharing of energy was interwoven through his personal and academic life, and affirmed the integrity of his vision and work."

His only survivor is his cousin, William Woys Weaver, with whom he lived in Devon.

Services: A memorial service is being planned.