Well-known volunteer and Palmerton businessman Peter Kern received the Volunteer of the Year award from the Palmerton Lions Club in May for his years of service to the community.

That evening in his acceptance speech, he referred to himself as just “a quiet member of the Pocono Alliance of Lions Clubs.”The truth is — that’s just the tip of the iceberg.Many people know Kern through his work as president of the Palmerton Chamber of Commerce, business manager of the Palmerton Historical Society’s Heritage Center or editor-in-chief of the center’s monthly magazine “The Scribe.”Some may even know him professionally from his days as president and corporate executive officer of Palmerton Hospital, or before that as senior vice president of marketing and technology at the New Jersey Zinc Company.“I do in a way think of Palmerton as my home away from home. I spend more waking hours of the day in Palmerton than at home,” Kern said. His house is actually in Brodheadsville.Originally from Queens, New York, Kern came to Palmerton in 1965 after completing a bachelor’s degree in engineering at Pratt Institute and a master’s degree in mathematics at the University of Minnesota, where he met his wife, Carol, who was getting her master’s degree in astronomy. Her bachelor’s degree is in physics. The couple came to the borough, and he began working for the New Jersey Zinc Company — a step that would affect more than his career.In 1974, Kern went to Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil, as an employee of NJZ.“It was no place, except for it was the headquarters for the Brazilian Air Force,” he said.Kern knew a little Portuguese when he was sent there to work on a titanium dioxide project.“I really loved Brazil. It was a wonderful place to visit,” he said.Kern described how he slept on a cot 2 feet off the floor. There was only cold water for a shower, but it was an experience he never forgot.He said there were two classes — upper middle class and poor.“It showed me every side of society, going to church on Saturday evenings and having beggars sitting on the church steps; people dropping money in their baskets,” he said.Although there was, and is, rampant poverty, there was a feeling of community.“You felt closer to the people. You wanted to be able to help them,” Kern said. “There was a simplicity to life in 1974 that endeared the country to me.”In 1995, he had an opportunity to help the Brazilian Portuguese population in this country.His father-in-law, Julius Hommer, was concerned about what to do with an old building once used by his company, Hommer Tool and Manufacturing Company. The property had been on the market for a while, but no buyers.Kern knew the Brazilian community needed a new church, so he suggested that Hommer donate the property to them.After some consideration, Hommer did. The property was turned over on Good Friday in 1995 and became a church. Later that year, Julius passed away.In 1996, his widow, Katheryn Hommer, pursued creating the family foundation with the encouragement of her only child, Carol, and son-in-law, Peter.Although the foundation started with only $25,000, it is now valued at about $15 million.Over the years, the Julius and Katheryn Hommer Foundation has provided thousands of dollars of grant money to organizations throughout the area and the Lehigh Valley.“(Kern’s) wife and his foundation have been giving us a generous grant for nine years,” said Sister Virginia Stephanie, the principal at St. John Neumann Regional School in Palmerton. “He is well-respected not only by the adults, but also by the children. We at St. John Neumann Regional School highly regard Mr. and Mrs. Kern.”In addition to his connection to the school through the foundation, Kern is also a chess mentor to the students every week.“He is a wonderful Christian gentleman and a model for our young people,” Sister Stephanie said.