Tressler Lutheran Services

It all began in the rolling hills of Perry County, Pennsylvania. Tressler Lutheran Services came into being in 1868 when the Lutheran Church purchased a private academy and home serving children orphaned during the Civil War.

Over the following decades, the Tressler Orphans Home served hundreds of children annually, growing into a community known as “Tresslertown” and becoming famous for its boys band, which toured Pennsylvania, Maryland, and surrounding states.

Tressler Marching Band--boys With enrollment declining in the mid-1950s, the Tressler board of directors made the difficult decision to close the home. It immediately set about finding other ways to serve children and their families. Efforts included development of a small group home and adoption services.

In 1970, Tressler and Lutheran Social Services-Central Penn Region realized they could serve more people by working cooperatively. That alliance formed Tressler Lutheran Services. Over the next three decades, the agency grew markedly, creating services to aid people of all ages in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. On January 1, 2000, Tressler Lutheran Services affiliated with Lutheran Services Northeast to create Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries.

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As part of its 125th anniversary celebration in 1994, Tressler Lutheran Services professionally recorded a march that had been written decades earlier for the home's boys band (see the image above). You can hear the march by clicking one of the links below:

“Tressler Orphans Home March” (MP3 file)

“Tressler Orphans Home March” (WAV file)