"For many years, people who knew me said I should write a book," said Tom Grassel, a man who has been referred to as the mayor of Conestoga, a town that has no such official designation. "I was never a writer, and I never liked to write." One day, following the March 2020 COVID-19 shutdown, that changed. "I started to write, and I wrote it all out by hand," recalled Tom.

Tom's life, which began on Lime Street in Lancaster in 1939, has had more twists and turns than some mystery novels. Friends who recognized his unique situation encouraged Tom to share his story. The recently published "Through My Eyes - The Memoirs of Thomas D. Grassel" follows Tom's life from the beginning, noting the many families that took him in as a child, and continuing through his time as a teenage farm hand and through his marriage to Gerry, his wife of 60 years, and his many careers, including farmer, restaurant owner, blacktop paving business owner, and Mennonite minister. Along the way, the Grassels raised a family, dealt with fires and windstorms, and nearly lost their farm. "It's in the book," Tom said often during his interview when asked about the particulars of an experience.

By the time Tom was 12, he had lived in three different homes. He began working as a farm hand for Chester Landis in the Greenfield area before moving in with the Weaver family in Conestoga at the age of 15. He finished high school at what was then Manor-Millersville High School, graduating at age 17. In the fall of 1958, he met Gerry, who lived in Bird-in-Hand, at the New Holland Farmers Fair. They married in 1961.

In 1963, Tom bought a Conestoga farm, borrowing money from two of the women who had cared for him as a child. He and Gerry raised tobacco, cows, chickens, hay, corn, and five children (four girls and a boy). In 1972, Tom was ordained as a Mennonite minister, and for the last several years, he has held a Sunday morning Bible study in his home.

Tom is known for his love of trains. At 4 p.m. each day, a toy train on an elevated rail makes a trip around the Grassels' farmhouse kitchen. In 1999, a one-foot gauge railroad became part of the landscape of the farm. "One of my friends called me and told me he bought a railroad engine," recalled Tom. The train, which includes a mile of track and a tunnel, became a fixture at a yearly July Fourth celebration held to raise funds for the Conestoga Fire Company. Tom reported that one event attracted 7,000 people and 1,800 rode the train that day.

The shelves of the Grassel kitchen are lined with painted carvings of all types and styles, all completed by Tom, who is self-taught. The figures range from cartoonish horses to members of the Plain community and more. Conestoga wagons with horses or mules are a specialty of his.

Tom called the book "Through My Eyes," and on the last 10 pages, he gave friends a chance to speak about his life through their own eyes. "I could not have lived without friends," said Tom.

Copies of Tom's books may be purchased at the Conestoga Wagon Restaurant, 2961 Main St., Conestoga.