By all acounts, Veronica “Fanny” Snavely Hershey was the practical, down-to-earth influence in Milton Hershey’s life. A deeply religious woman, she wore the plain dress of her Reformed Mennonite Church throughout her life. It was his mother’s values of hard work and perseverance that contributed greatly to Hershey’s later success.

The Mennonites were a strict-living sect who emigrated from Europe’s German-speaking Palatinate region in the 18th century. Many of them (including both sides of Milton Hershey’s family) settled in central Pennsylvania, where they continue to flourish today.