Nohe v. Nohe

1

KENNETH CHARLES NOHE, JR. Appellee v. KENNETH CHARLES NOHE, SR. Appellant

No. 3195 EDA 2022

No. J-A17042-23

Superior Court of Pennsylvania

November 28, 2023

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT O.P. 65.37

Appeal from the Order Entered November 30, 2022 In the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County Civil Division at No(s) 2021-60451

BEFORE: KING, J., SULLIVAN, J., and PELLEGRINI, J. ^[*]

MEMORANDUM

KING J.

Appellant Kenneth Charles Nohe, Sr. ("Grandfather"), appeals from the order entered in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas, which granted the petition of Appellee, Kenneth Charles Nohe, Jr. ("Father"),^[1] filed under the Protection from Abuse ("PFA") Act^2] We affirm.

In its opinion, the trial court sets forth a lengthy and detailed recitation of the testimony provided during the four days of hearings in this case, as follows:

When Father was younger, he and Grandfather had a close relationship. As an example, Father worked as a busboy and waiter at Grandfather's Dinner Theater in Maryland, as did Father's teenage friends and soccer teammates.

Father and Mother have been together since 1991. They were married in 2006.

After Father met Mother, they moved to Utah. While they were driving cross-country to visit Maryland with Father's sister Catherine, Grandfather received a telephone call from Catherine. Catherine told Grandfather that Father, who was then in his twenties, tried to kill himself by cutting his wrists. Father returned to Maryland and began treatment with a psychiatrist. Grandfather accompanied Father to his psychiatric appointments. Father has been in continuing psychotherapy for twenty-seven (27) years.

When Father and Mother moved back to Maryland, they lived with Grandfather. Later, Mother and Father rented an apartment, but returned to live with Grandfather for a year-and-a-half "to save money." When Grandfather moved to downtown Baltimore, Father and Mother purchased Grandfather's former townhouse…in Timonium, Maryland. At that time, Grandfather was the proprietor of a "Dinner Theater" and "Sports Bar."

The testimony presented at these four hearings portrayed a disturbing and often toxic picture of a dysfunctional family dynamic, where Father and Grandfather were often angry and confrontational. There was also a history of physical violence between them.

Despite these volatile episodes, both Mother and Father requested that Grandfather provide childcare and companionship for their children, [Son] and [Daughter]. Both Mother and Father encouraged Grandfather to take an especially active role in children's daily lives.

The relationship with Grandfather and Father began to deteriorate approximately thirty (30) years ago.

A violent physical altercation occurred between Father and Grandfather in Grandfather's Sports Bar in Maryland on St. Patrick's Day, 1995. … * * *

Mother described Grandfather as a person who does not like being told "no" and "who needs to control everything." When Grandfather does not "control everything," Mother has seen him "go to great lengths badgering, manipulating, getting in people's faces," and "being physical."

There have been numerous volatile episodes and physical confrontations between Grandfather and Father.

[I]n December…2007, Mother gave birth to [S]on[.] About eighteen months later, Mother gave birth to…[D]aughter[.] When the children were born, Father was working full-time and Mother was a flight attendant working only on weekends.

Because of their employment schedules, Grandfather was asked by Mother to provide childcare for [Son] from a very young age. …

Mother was having difficulty managing her job and childcare duties. Mother moved in with Grandfather in downtown Baltimore for a short time. A schedule formed: From the time [Son] was six months old to age five, Grandfather would pick up [Son] at 6:30 a.m., take him to get breakfast, feed him, change his diapers, take him to a local "train museum" (sometimes five days in a row), eat lunch, return to his apartment for a nap, and take [Son] home to his parents around 3:00 pm.

[Daughter] also began to stay with Grandfather when she was three (3) years old. [Son] and [Daughter] stayed overnight with Grandfather almost every weekend for thirteen (13) years. Grandfather testified: "Not only did I have them ([Son] and [Daughter]), I had all their friends with me most of the time."

Grandfather testified that he "watched a bunch of kids" every Saturday for years. Father believed, in retrospect, that these "indulgences" were "grooming" the children. According to Father, "Grandfather was creating part of the turmoil in [Son] where he would not listen to his parents, where he would start to rebel against his parents." [Son] was "listening to someone (Grandfather) who encouraged him to lie, to hide, to think that wealth is-it would start to create, within [Son], some really ugly non-values."

* * *

[Son] and [Daughter] have been diagnosed with certain mental health issues. [Son] is being treated for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Tourette's Syndrome, and Anxiety. [Daughter] is also being treated for Anxiety.

* * *

Grandfather has been separated from his wife Rose Nohe [("Grandmother")] for thirty-one (31) years. Despite this lengthy separation, Grandfather and Grandmother…are apparently still married. Grandfather often stayed with his girlfriend "Fran" at Fran's home in Phoenix, Maryland, near Father's home in Timonium, Maryland. Grandfather has been in a relationship with Fran for twenty-eight (28) years.

While in Florida [at Grandfather's vacation home] in 2019, an argument occurred after a long day at the beach. Father wanted to purchase "healthy food" to cook at home. The rest of the family wanted to order fast food at McDonald's because "they were really hungry." An argument [ensued]. During this argument, Father attempted to jump out of the passenger seat of the car when Grandfather was driving at a speed of approximately forty-five miles per hour. Grandfather grabbed Father around his neck and pulled him back into the car. Father turned to the back seat of the car where Grandmother…and the children were seated, and screamed that he was the one who was going to decide where and what they would eat.

On November 6, 2019, [Son] texted to Grandfather: "We have a huge problem with [Father.] I'll tell you the details later." [Son] told Father that [Daughter] was angry and they were having a "problem," and [Son] needed Father's help. According to [Son], Father attacked him by hitting him repeatedly in the arm and head.

Father described this incident differently. He testified that he slapped at [Son's] arms when [Son] was crying and upset. Father said he had only spanked [Son] one time when he was eight (8) years-old. [Son], however, told Grandfather that "Father hit him in the head more times than he could count" and hit him in the arm causing bruises. …

Grandfather told [Son] to call Mother. Mother was still flying for Delta Airlines three to five days at a time. Grandfather was also worried that Father would attempt to commit suicide again.

Grandfather alleged there were many times that Father would grab [Son] by his arm and make him go to his room.

Grandfather explained that when Father and [Son] would have arguments, often [Son's] punishment would be that he could not see Grandfather that weekend.

In 2019, Grandfather received a text from [Son] asking, "Poppa, why don't you come up and shoot some hoops?" Grandfather testified that they used to play "HORSE" and other basketball games. Father also came and they all played HORSE together. Two days later, Grandfather received another call from [Son] about playing basketball again. [Son] started running at a nearby soccer field to warm up. Father arrived and became enraged. Father asked Grandfather, "What the f' are you doing here?" Grandfather told Father that [Son] called him and they were going to play HORSE. Father said, "You are not invited here," grabbed Grandfather by the shirt and said, "You better get the f' out of here." Grandfather left.

Later, on August 26, 2020, Father called Grandfather around 10:00 p.m. pleading, "I need you here-[Son] bashed his head into the wall." Grandfather went to Father's home to try to visit [Son], who was now twelve (12) years old. After Grandfather let himself in, Father said, "I'm really glad you came. I really needed you here. I didn't want to hit [Son] again." [Son] told Grandfather that there was a fight between [Son] and [Daughter]. [Son] wanted to "make peace," but when [Son] went to kiss Mother, she "pushed him away." In response, [Son] bashed his own head into a wall, breaking the sheetrock. Grandfather believes that all of these current "issues" started that day.

From August 2020, through January, 2021, [Son] repeatedly called Grandfather to tell him how Father would pull him aside and say negative things about Grandfather. For example, Father told him that Grandfather was a "liar" and "manipulator;" that when [Son] was older, Grandfather "would treat him like shit and wouldn't love him anymore," and that [Son] would probably end up hating Grandfather. Father also said that Grandfather had been "nice" to Father, but he learned later that Grandfather was a "bad person."

Mother told [Son] that Grandfather would leave [Son] for someone else and not love him anymore.

Grandfather advised [Son] to tell his parents what he said to Grandfather-that when they say negative things about Grandfather, it makes [Son] dislike his parents, not his Grandfather: "When you love someone, you don't want anyone speaking negatively about them." Grandfather stated that [Son] was "in crisis" because of the constant negative comments by his parents about Grandfather.

Father testified that Grandfather "is

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