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Donald's long lost diary

Donald D. Meeker's diary from 1938 has been found. Now an effort to connect with his family is underway.

WYOMING, Pa. — Some would say it's wrong to go snooping through another person's diary. But when Linda Coolbaugh of Eaton Township opened up a little diary from 1938, she wasn't the first to snoop inside; her grandson was.

"They had cleaned out a house, and he found a bag of what was supposed to be garbage, and he was little. He picked it up, and it caught his attention," she explained to Newswatch 16.

Now Linda is trying to find anyone connected to the original owner of this daily dairy from 1938 – Donald D. Meeker, who lived on Murray Street in Forty Fort.

"Kept pretty much a daily event schedule; when he would go get groceries when he would pay his rent," said Linda.

Through the entries, Linda found some clues that might help find the family.

"There's a lot of a named Frankie in the book. I'm not sure if that's maybe his wife's name or her name was Frances, and they called her Frankie," added Linda.

Donald was married on June 15, 1933, and bought three birthday cards for his mother, his father, and someone named Peg in the month of January.

Credit: WNEP

Linda also found some shocking things. On July 9, 1938, Donald bought a 1934 Chevy Coach for $350 and filled the tank with gasoline at 15 cents a gallon.

"All these figures are amazing, and they're great to look at and for somebody else to see. I actually have a small little one like this of my grandpa's that I hang on to, and it's special, and it just shows you the difference in time," said Linda.

If you think you might be related to this Donald D. Meeker, please email chelsea.strub@wnep.com, and we'll help connect you with Linda.

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