Ada Lynch

 

Mrs. Ada E. (Schiel) Lynch

August 17, 1944 — December 25, 2025

Mrs. Ada E. (Schiel) Lynch, 81, of Fleetwood, passed away at her home, surrounded by her loving family, on Thursday, December 25, 2025.

Born August 17, 1944, in Wilkes-Barre, PA, Ada was the daughter of the late William A. and Martha A. (Williams) Schiel. She and her husband of 58 years, James W. Lynch, were married in Wilkes-Barre, PA on August 12, 1967.

Ada was a 1962 graduate of Coughlin High School. She worked as the comptroller for Petroleum Service Company, Wilkes-Barre. She attended St. John's United Church of Christ, Kutztown, and enjoyed volunteering at Friend, Inc. and the Fleetwood Public Library. Ada loved reading, going to the gym and working on photo albums.

Surviving in addition to her husband, Jim, are her children, Dr. James A. Lynch, Leesport, PA, and Dr. Amy Lynch-Biniek, wife of Matthew Biniek, Lyon Station. She is also survived by her granddaughters, Maureen and Ada, and by her nieces and nephews.

Along with her parents, Ada was preceded in death by her sister, Lois A. Webb and her brother, William A. Schiel.

Services for Ada will be held privately by her family.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Ada's memory to Friend, Inc., 658D Noble Street, Kutztown, PA, 19530 or to Animals In Distress, PO Box 609, Coopersburg, PA 18036.

Walbert Funeral Home & Crematory, Fleetwood, is honored to be caring for Ada. Messages of comfort and sympathy can be offered to Jim and his family at www.WalbertFuneralHome.com.

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Mrs. Ada E. (Schiel) Lynch, please visit our flower store.

Cynthia R. (Toole) Peters

 Cynthia R. (Toole) Peters, 67, of Plymouth, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.

She was born in Wilkes-Barre on May 26, 1958. Cindy is the daughter of the late Joseph and Jean (Brace) Toole.

She was a graduate of Bishop O'Riley, Class of 1977. She was employed in the health care field until her retirement.

Preceding her in death were her infant son, Joseph, and infant daughter, Sarah; brothers, Larry and Dennis; and sisters, RuthAnn, Glovene, and Linda.

Surviving are her loving husband of 44 years, Douglas; loving son, Michael; brother, Clyde; and sister, Barbara.

Funeral services will be at the family's convenience.

Karen Leslie Lanczak Leonardi

 

Karen Leslie Lanczak Leonardi, 65 of Luzerne, PA, entered eternal rest on Thursday, January 16, 2025 surrounded by her loving husband, Bobby and dear friend, Donna.

Born on August 22, 1959 in Luzerne, PA, she was the daughter of the late John A. and Regina (Rutenberg) Lanczak, Sr.

Karen was a graduate of Bishop OReilly High School, Kingston, Class of 1977, and worked in local and state government her entire career. She worked for the Luzerne County Courthouse and retired from The Department of Labor & Industry, State Workers Insurance Fund, Scranton, PA, in April 2024, where she worked for 21 years.

A devout catholic, Karen was a member of Holy Family Parish in Luzerne. Karen had a heart of gold and always put the needs of others before her own. She was a kind, caring, generous and a loyal person. She enjoyed spending time with family and friends and dedicating her artistic talents into making one-of-a-kind gift baskets and jars for numerous charitable organizations fundraisers throughout her local community. She was also the ultimate party planner.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother, John A. Chris Lanczak, Jr., whom she and her husband took care of his entire life, and her niece Angela Lanczak DAndrea.

Surviving are her husband, Robert J. Leonardi, Luzerne, brother, Michael Lanczak and his wife Roberta, Kingston, and several nieces and nephews.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held Tuesday, January 21, 2025 at 10:00 am at Holy Family Parish, 574 Bennett Street, Luzerne, PA 18709, with Monsignor David L. Tressler, Pastor, officiating. Interment will be held in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Carverton section of Wyoming. Family and friends may call Tuesday morning from 9:00 am until the time of mass at church. Arrangements entrusted to the Corcoran Funeral Home, Inc., 20 South Main Street, Plains, PA 18705.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Epilepsy Foundation of Eastern PA, 919 Walnut Street, Unit 700, Philadelphia, PA 19107 in Karens memory.

For additional information or to leave Karens family a message of condolence, please visit www.corcoranfuneralhome.com.

January 16, 2025

Ann Marie (Novak) Livingstone

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Ann Marie M. (Novak) Livingstone, 63, of Shavertown, PA, passed away on August 9, 2023 at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center surrounded by her loving family.

Born in Edwardsville, she was the daughter of the late John and Margaret Novak. Ann Marie, a graduate of Bishop O’Reilly High School in 1977, was employed by The Social Security Administration and Jerome J. Novak, CPA for many years.

Ann Marie’s greatest joy was spending time with family, friends and helping others. Getting people together for special occasions (or no occasion at all) was something she often did. Whether planning or attending an event, her contributions of food, fun and gifts were epic! From Strawberry-themed summer parties to the best traditional Slovak Christmas Eve dinners, Ann Marie did everything with love. She welcomed everyone to her home with her beautiful smile and a warm hug!

She can now rest in heaven. We will miss her but now she will be watching over her family and friends. Surviving is her loving husband, C. Ross Livingstone; daughter, Lynn Marie Przywara and fiancé, Anthony Morales. Also left to cherish her memory are her brothers: Richard Novak and wife, Adele; Stephen Novak and wife, Marilyn; beloved sister Mary Beth Hanadel and husband, Carl. She is also survived by her nieces and nephews: Andrew, Seth, Justin, Natalie, Eric, Valerie, and great nieces, who she adored! Ann Marie is survived by many, many treasured friends, as well as by her loving cats Furby, Baby and Mr. Gray.

Friends and family are welcome to share their stories and remembrances from 4 to 8 PM on Wednesday, August 16, 2023 at Hugh B. Hughes & Son, Inc. Funeral Home, 1044 Wyoming Ave, Forty Fort.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 AM on Thursday, August 17, 2023 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, 116 Hughes St, Swoyersville, PA. Family and friends are asked to go directly to the church.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to either the Pennsylvania SPCA or to St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital to carry on Ann Marie’s legacy as the kindest and most giving person imaginable. “For it is in giving that we receive.”

Vince Dennis Jr.

 

Vincent T. Dennis Jr. of Swoyersville passed away Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at Allied Hospice, Wilkes-Barre.

He was born in Kingston, son of the late Vincent Sr. and Helen Hudanick Dennis.

Vince was a member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, Swoyersville. He was a graduate of Bishop O'Reilly High School, Class of 1977. Vince was a life member of The Maltby Fire Company, Swoyersville. He loved hunting, fishing and puzzles and was a huge Minnesota Vikings fan. Vince loved the Beatles and played the guitar. He was a great husband, father, brother and uncle.

Surviving are his wife, Marion; sons, Vincent III and Daniel; loving sisters, Donna Dennis Rigle, Lisa Dennis Lylo and Cindy Dennis Pugh; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A celebration of life viewing will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Lehman-Gregory Funeral Home Inc., 281 Chapel St., Swoyersville. A blessing service will be conducted at 2 p.m. by the Rev. Joe Pisaneschi.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Allied Hospice Meade Street, Wilkes-Barre.

45th Class Reunion is Scheduled for Sept 3, 2022

Michael Kinney has informed me that he has secured the venue for the 45th class reunion for Saturday, September 3, 2022. It will be held at Via Mia Restaurant and Bar on Main St. in Luzerne.  This is the same location as the 60th Birthday Party which was then called Coal City Tavern.  It has been recently remodeled and is under new ownership.  Details to follow.

Update:  2022-09-01 Due to low response, this event has been cancelled.

Kathleen Ann (Blaum) Hannon

Kathleen Ann Hannon

Kathy was born February 7th 1959 in Forty-Fort, Pennsylvania. She graduated Davis & Elkins College, West Virginia, with a bachelor degree in Botany. She was a homemaker and science teacher at Toms River East High School in New Jersey. Kathy married her best friend, Edward Hannon, and celebrated 40 years of marriage together. They settled and started a family in New Jersey and retired on Smith Mountain Lake Virginia.

In addition to her parents, Terry and Phill, she was predeceased by her sister Donna Blaum.

Surviving, in addition to her husband, are her daughter, Erin and her husband Bill along with their two daughters Tenley and Aria; her son, Shawn and his wife Larisa along with their daughter River; her son; Brian and her daughter; Kayla, her brothers; Paul Blaum and his wife Ann along with their children Donna and Jack, Fredrick Blaum, Jim Blaum and his wife Laurie along with their children Matthew, Emily and Caitlin, John Blaum and his wife Maureen along with their daughters Sarah and Katie.

Kathy loved the outdoors, you could find her swimming, biking, running, hiking and gardening. She lived life to the fullest with a positive attitude no matter any of the challenges tossed her way. Please join us in celebrating her life at the Conner-Bowman Funeral Home and Crematory on May 28th 2022 at 11am. In lieu of flowers, please donate to charities related to Kathy and her favorite activities.

Robert Bricek

I learned about this from Karen Leonardi.  Robert was in our class at O'Reilly for a while but then transferred to WVW prior to graduation.

Robert Bricek, 62, of Edwardsville, passed away Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, in Jefferson Hospital, Philadelphia, due to heart complications. He had his dedicated family by his side.

Born in Edwardsville, he was the only son to the late Andrew and Geraldine Bricek. He is also survived by a sister, Linda Shusta and husband, Mike.

Robert was a graduate of Wyoming Valley West High School, Class of 1977. He was a member of Resurrection of the Lord Polish National Catholic Church, Edwardsville. He was employed by Hill Top Apartments as maintenance supervisor for 40 years. Robert also served as a councilman for multiple years for the Edwardsville Borough Council.

He enjoyed spending time with his family and riding his motorcycle. His family was the light of his life.

Robert is also survived by his wife, Deborah Bricek; son, Charles and his wife, Jennifer Smith; daughter, Pamela and her husband, Corey Knox; and daughter, Emily Bricek. He very much enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren who meant the world to him, Hailey, Skyler, Adalynn, Maci and Mason; several sisters and brothers-in-law; along with many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. He will be missed by everyone whose lives he touched.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday from Kielty-Moran Funeral Home Inc., 87 Washington Ave., Plymouth. Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. in Good Shepherd Polish National Catholic Church, 269 E. Main St., Plymouth, with the Very Rev. Lucian Urbaniak officiating. Interment will follow in Maple Hill Cemetery.

Friends may call from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home and Friday one hour prior to services.

Published by Citizens Voice from Feb. 8 to Feb. 9, 2022.

Just when you thought 2020 could not get more weird...

They say weird things always come in threes.  Well I have a hot take for you now that came in three episodes spaced out for more than 50 years.

I was a big fan of science fiction as a kid, especially the TV series Lost In Space.  I dreamed of having a robot like the B9.  I also liked Star Trek a lot.  I didn't read a lot of books in the sci-fi genre, but one sci-fi type book I can recall reading was in the library at St. John's called 'The Forgotten Door' by Alexander Keys.  

I recently re-read the book on my Kindle and found it to be quite good, even though it was written as a children's book targeting readers from ages 8-12.  It has a sci-fi theme to it in that the 'Forgotten Door' was some kind of a portal a young boy from another planet falls through and lands on Earth.  The first thing he notices is that there are both good and bad people here, some who are kind and caring and others who lie and steal and are mean to those who are 'different'.  He experiences this firsthand as he appears different to humans due to his unusual clothing and long hair.

He comes from a place where there is no lying, stealing, wars, poverty or even money and can't imagine why anyone would live like we do here on Earth.

This book was first published in 1965 and has since been re-released multiple times.  

In 1969, an iconic movie called 'Easy Rider' starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Jack Nicholson was released and although I was too young at the time to see it, I've since watched it several times and there is one scene in the movie that is etched in my memory from the first time I saw it.  You can view this 4 minute clip of the scene below. 

 

You'll noticed a familiar sounding theme from what I described from The Forgotten Door.

And now you'll no doubt be asking, OK, that's two, what's the third thing Lee's thinking about.  Well, just this past week, Haim Eshed, a retired Israeli general who served for 30 years as the head of Israel's space program admitted that we have been visited by aliens for some time and the U.S. and Israeli governments have been in communication with them and have been keeping it a secret due to humans not being able to 'handle it' and inciting a general panic.  You can read about his revelations here. 

I wanted to give you something entertaining this week to take your mind off of politics and the pandemic or anything else that might be distracting you from a bigger story.  And, if true, this would be the story of the millennium.  Remember, you heard it here first.  And I've suspected it since grade school because encountering aliens was an everyday occurrence on my favorite TV shows. :-)

Please, Pandemic, be over already.

When I first posted about the pandemic in April of this year, the catch phrase was '14 days to flatten the curve', meaning we'd need to isolate ourselves for 14 days which would then prevent us from overloading our health care services due to everyone getting Covid at the same time.  Maybe it would disappear if we'd just stop spreading it.  It's hard to believe that was 30+ weeks ago and we're still dealing with the pandemic.  The infections are increasing in all countries to be even higher than they were when the pandemic first broke out.  Thankfully the death rate has been reduced dramatically since the early days and there are two vaccines that look promising.

At first, it wasn't a big sacrifice for me as I'm an introvert and can get along without social interaction for longer than most people.  However, this imposed isolation is now getting to feel like it's bordering on cruelty even for us introverts.  

And when we attempt to get back to feeling normal by responsibly doing something that is in that category of  a non-essential activity such as visiting a restaurant, I can feel the judgement of those who consider us to be putting others' lives in danger despite following all the safety guidelines.

That is one of the odd things about this pandemic.  If you violate any of the constantly changing safety guidelines, no one will care if you die of Covid.  Indeed, some may actually wish for you to come down with Covid and die a slow and agonizing death to punish you for your wrecklessness!  But they are really worried about their own health or the health of someone who might matter to them, someone that you put at risk with your carelessness.

There is a very anti-social vibe that emanates from those who dictate how you should properly conduct yourself during this pandemic.  If you're an essential worker, then get your ass to work and put your life at risk so I don't run out of whatever you're providing.  If not, lock yourself in your home and stay the hell away from me!  Both of these attitudes is lacking in anything resembling compassion and I think it's turning people against each other.

Who are essential workers?  They are those the provide us with essential products and those who protect us.  They are the farmers, meat packers, grocery clerks,  truckers, and delivery people.   They are the health care workers, firemen, and police.  They got no break from their jobs during this pandemic.  In fact, many of them have had to work even harder.  

Who are the non-essential people?  They are the entertainers, actors, musicians and other performing artists, as well as athletes and anyone whose job requires people to gather in crowded spaces to earn their pay.  They are many of the bar tenders, waiters, cooks, and dishwashers who saw their modest pay disappear over night.

I'm one of the 'lucky' ones who gets to work from home.  But I can tell you that talking into a microphone for hours each day without any feedback from an audience as I lecture to them is not much fun at all.  I'm sure it's no fun for students either.

I really want for this pandemic to be over.  How about you?  Leave a comment in the comments section if you'd like to share your thoughts or frustrations about the pandemic.  

Carry A Laser??

For the past 35 years, I've wanted to look up the lyrics of a song that was popular in 1985.  It was a song by the band Mr. Mister.  I wasn't so interested in the song that I ever embarked on the search, but each time I heard it, I thought to myself, "I really need to figure out those lyrics."  The song chorus included lyrics that sounded like 'Carry a Laser'.  I knew that could not have been the actual lyrics yet I couldn't imagine what they were.  The thing that deterred me from my search is that I didn't know what song lyrics to search for on the Internet.   Then I thought, "Well, if I think that is how it sounds, others probably think the same." So I searched on the lyrics, "Carry a Laser"  and when I saw the result, it began with "Misheard lyrics..."  and I felt a sense of relief.   I knew victory was close at hand.  

The lyric I thought was 'Carry a Laser' was actually 'Kyrie Elieson'.  I assumed immediately that the guy was singing about a love interest.  And not only was he singing her first name, Kyrie, which is an admittedly unusual name...but he also included her last name, Elieson, which was even more unusual.  Not since Tommy Tutone gave out Jenny's phone number as 867-5309 had a woman's privacy been so totally violated by a pop song.

I began to wonder if Kyrie Eleison had entered a witness protection program or perhaps taken on the surname of her husband to escape the non-stop scrutiny of being a subject of a pop song.  Being the subject of a popular song has to be a heavy load.  Here are some of the lyrics which you may recognize:

Kyrie Eleison

Down the road that I must travel

Kyrie Eleison

Through the darkness of the night

Kyrie Eleison

Where I'm going, will you follow?

Kyrie Eleison

On a highway in the light ....

Wow, this guy really has it bad for that woman named Kyrie, I surmised.  

I was listening to it the other night from a YouTube video on my earbuds.  It was playing loudly enough that Terri asked me what I was listening to and so I unplugged my earbuds and let her listen to it.  She knew immediately that the song's title wasn't 'Carry a Laser', but 'Kyrie Eleison'.  She even knew how to spell it!  Then she said she had sung a different song that included the lyrics Kyrie Eleison in grade school as a choir girl and she knew that 'Kyrie Elieson' translated to 'Lord have Mercy'.

I've known Terri for 44 years.  We've been married for 35 years.  I had absolutely no idea she knew that!  It's nice when your spouse can still surprise you after 44 years.  

And, by the way, Kyrie Eleison is Greek for 'Lord have Mercy' and the song was released the same year we were married.  Coincidence?  Perhaps not ;-)

In 1985 telling someone to 'Carry a Laser' might have sounded like telling them to keep their light saber with them at all times, but in 2020, it's not so absurd.  When I was teaching in the classroom, I never left home without my slide clicker, which has its own laser pointer built right into it.  When I use that laser to make a point by highlighting a portion of my slide, my students become like curious cats, unable to take their attention off of that small red dot.  Who needs a light saber, when you can actually carry a laser?     

The music that defined a generation...

I have heard that our musical tastes are defined by what we grew up listening to between the ages of 12 to 24. For us, that means music from the years 1971 through 1984 had the most impact on us. I have a pretty good recollection of what was playing on the radio in those years and whenever I hear one of those songs, it generally brings a smile to my face. The most influential album for me arrived in 1976, during Spring of our junior year at BOR. It was Rush's iconic album entitled 2112. I know it's not well aligned with everyone's musical tastes, but for me, I still recall hearing it blasting from Bob Wanat's 8-track player in his Pontiac TransAm while parked at our campsite at Lake Jean in Rickett's Glen State Park. At first it was a bit shocking. I had never heard anything like it, but it slowly grew on me until I understood who my favorite band of all time would be. And 44 years later, it's still the case.

Dave Serhan recently sent me an email that included a screen shot of his iTunes Rush collection. Let's just say it was quite complete.   Check it out:

Dave and I were roommates at PSU and I know I overplayed that Rush's music to the point that I wondered if I'd turned him off to the group forever. As you know, Rush doesn't get much radio play, but when it does, I know that Dave is thinking of me.  I know this because he will actually email me and tell me he heard a Rush song on the radio and he thought of me.   I can just blame it on Bob Wanat for getting me hooked on Rush's music to begin with way back in 1976.

I know that Bob, Dave and I are not alone.  Joe Petrasek is a big Rush fan and so perhaps many more of you are as well. Not so sure about the ladies... Did you ever go to a Rush concert or see a video of the audience? It was about 90% dudes.  And no, you can't dance to their music.  Don't even try.  You can do air guitar and air drums to it.  It may be the best genre for those activities.

Sadly there will be no more Rush concerts. Neil Peart, the drummer and lyricist, passed away earlier this year from brain cancer. I can only be comforted that they had a long run, over 40 years, and released a lot of music in that time that we can still enjoy.  And of course, I have my memories of their live concerts and a few DVDs can transport me back to that era.

After Dave's email, I re-ripped all of my Rush music at a higher bitrate and copied it to an SD card and so now my car has an 'All Rush' channel.  And whenever I play it, you'll know because if you see me, I'll be smiling as I drive down the road.

I know I write about Rush too much but when your favorite drummer/lyricist/writer puts you on the cover of his book, well, it's hard to keep your pie hole shut.

Old Forge Pizza Review

Dave was in your back yard again, sampling the best pizza the Valley has to offer.

This may come as a surprise to those of you who grew up in the Wyoming Valley, but I don't think I've ever set foot in Old Forge. Yes, the guy who writes about pizza like it's the most wonderful gift from God (it is) has never been to Old Forge. But thanks to Goldbelly, I got Old Forge Pizza from Arcaro and Genell to come to me and let me tell you, it is wonderful. Not only did we get the conventional red pizza, but also the white pizza and a stromboli with a side of marinara sauce. I want all of you living in the Valley to get down on your knees tonight and thank the Lord that you can simply hop in your car and drive to that city and select from one of its many pizza restaurants where you can have genuine Old Forge style pizza fresh from the oven.

The pizza is outstanding even warmed up in the toaster oven, better than anything we can get out this way. I can just imagine how much better it would be piping hot fresh out of a pizza oven. Dave gave his slice a 7.5 out of 10 but he's more of a thin crust guy, but I'm giving my scores of 9.1 for the red, 8.5 for the white, and the stromboli fetches an 8.9. One bite, everyone knows the rules. And if you find yourself like me too far from the Valley, let me send you an invite to Goldbelly so I can get a kickback. If you do, I'll make sure to buy you a drink and a slice at the next reunion.

One bite, everyone knows the rules....

I've been watching Dave Portnoy's Pizza reviews for a few weeks now, ever since one showed up on my Facebook feed from a pizza place in Old Forge. The Sabatini's review above was sent to me on Facebook by Joe Petrasek, and I have to say it's one of my favorites. For one, it's the only pizza that I've personally tried that Dave has reviewed and it's Terri's family's favorite. I think we automatically fall in love with our first pizza and it's the yardstick by which all others will be forever compared. I'm still partial to Savoy's for that reason.

And I'd be truly remiss if I failed to mention that fellow classmate Bob Sabatini's family owns this restaurant.

For a brief time, we had Old Forge style pizza available here in Colorado. A woman who originally is from Scranton and her husband live up near Vail and they opened up two pizza restaurants, aptly named, Old Forge Pizza and so whenever we'd pass through Vail, we'd stop by for the best pizza in Colorado. Sadly, the restaurants were sold and not long after that went out of business. You'd think that having the only Old Forge style pizza in the state of Colorado would assure success, but perhaps for those who didn't grow up in the 'Pizza capital of the world', it might be a bit like pearls before swine.

After seeing about 20 of these reviews, I developed an uncontrollable craving for pizza. Not just any pizza, but some Wyoming Valley Pizza. So I went to Goldbelly's to order some authentic Old Forge Pizza from Arcaro and Genell. I would have normally gone with Victory Pig, but they appear to be closed even for online ordering likely due to the Covid shutdown. This will be my first time trying the 'white pizza', which I have heard about but have never tasted.

And when I take that first bite, I'll say, "One bite, everyone knows the rules." as if it's a single word. Then proceed to take multiple bites until the slice is devoured. Then I'll rate it. If you've watched enough of Dave's reviews, you'll understand what I mean. ;-)

Career Heroes

As I reminisce about growing up in the Wyoming Valley of northeastern PA, I am often in awe of the work ethic of our ancestors who immigrated from countries far away, not speaking the language in many cases, and taking up the difficult and dangerous work of underground coal mining. In looking through the census records from the time my father's ancestors immigrated (1872 through 1892), I am struck with the number of family members engaged in coal mining or at the silk mills from a very young age. By the time we all came along in the late 1950's, the mines were essentially shut down and the textile industry had shifted from silk to synthetics and followed cheaper labor in the South and, eventually, overseas.

The textile industry in the Valley was, at least for a few decades, replaced by the garment industry that was chasing cheaper labor than could be found in the New York City garment district. There were hundreds of 'run-away' dress shops all over the valley. Women sometimes replaced men who could not find work after the mines shut down as the primary bread-winners of their families thanks to the garment industry.

Young men and women also found their way into these factories and right up until the 1990's, a few of the dress shops still survived. During our 11th reunion in 1988, Mike Matthews amused fellow classmates by preemptively stating, "I'm gonna get this out now and I will say this once and I will not repeat myself again tonight... I am a sewing machine mechanic at Leslie Fay." He was, of course, referring to the often-asked question, "So, what do you do for a living?". Some people are understandably proud of their career achievements, particularly if they are of a high-status nature. In my mind, a sewing machine is a very complex piece of equipment. Anyone who can fix a sewing machine is a hero in my eyes.

I'd say that Mike's profession certainly fell into the category of a 'real job'. If you are helping to feed, clothe, or shelter fellow human beings, you are pursuing a worthy calling. Similarly, if you're protecting public health and safety or educating fellow citizens, you're doing your part to make the world a better place.

We've moved away from an industrial economy where the coal mining or production of clothing and textiles are jobs that you could expect to pursue in this country as a long term career. I worked in the design and manufacture of computer equipment in my early career, an up-and-coming field that did not exist when I was born. However, the entire industry has essentially moved to China. And it didn't take long, just over a decade or so.

Several of the companies that offered me jobs upon graduating have since vanished. A few were companies that had been around for over 100 years and were household names, Kodak and Westinghouse being two of them.

It's hard to know how to prepare my students for future careers today. In a recent survey over half of students from the ages 6 through 17 have said they want to become a YouTuber or vlogger when they grow up. Sports as a career has also found its way into top 10 career aspirations among young people. I think they should study the statistics to help them realize just how few people can make it in those kinds of careers and how long the careers typically last. Attention-gathering careers follow a 'power law' distribution, i.e., 99% of the income is earned by .1% of the participants. Knowing these odds gives me a sense of relief I didn't pursue a career as a rock star....well... that and knowledge I had no musical talent. :-)

Mike Matthews wasn't able to make it to the 25th reunion. He passed away just a year prior to it, in 2001 at age 41. We never did have an obituary for him in the blog, so I'll post one here for the 19th anniversary of his passing.

Mob History of the Wyoming Valley

In a previous posting I wrote about books covering Wyoming Valley history, the book 'Fighting for the Union Label' talks about the growth of the garment industry and the efforts to unionize the dress shops. Some of the most difficult obstacles that union organizer Min Matheson had had to deal with were related to the mafia-owned shops on Main Street in Pittston. Russel Bufalino, our fellow Kingston resident, was a common sight in those days and he and his crew were not averse to bullying the union people. Min would actually walk up to Russell and tell him off.

The mob and the unions have a tense an interconnected history and a lot of it is covered in detail in the excellent book, "I Heard You Paint Houses" by Charles Brandt. I read the book prior to the release of the movie called "The Irishman" by Martin Scorcese which was based on the book. The movie was slow, plodding, and disappointing compared to the book. Many of the best side stories were missing in the movie, such as the mob's involvement in the Bay of Pigs disaster and the JFK assassination. I was hoping they'd include the story of how the Teamsters helped a 29 year-old Joe Biden win his first Senate election against a highly favored career politician/incumbent. These stories were at least as compelling as the main story line about who killed Jimmy Hoffa, yet in this slow-moving 3.5 hour movie there was enough extraneous material added that would have better been spent by including more the original stories in the book. It took me 3 separate sittings to watch it all.

And you want to know more about the quiet don, I recommend the book 'The Quiet Don' by Matt Birkbeck.

Growing up in Coal Country

I have been doing research on my family's history for several years. I have an account on Ancestry.com and with the resources available there as well as some helpful people in that community, I've been able to trace my mother's family (the Kennedy's) back to the 1700's in Ireland. My mother immigrated to the U.S. in the 1950s so I have to rely mostly on Irish records for information on her side. I can also trace my father's side of the family back to Ireland on the Devlin side and to Lithuania on his mother's side. My dad's Irish ancestors arrived in this country in 1872 and settled in Plains, and his mother's parents (Simonitis) settled in Pringle sometime around 1892, according to a ship's manifest I found in the Ellis Island database.

I was able to piece most of my family tree together with census records. On both sides of his family, my father's earliest relatives were employed in the coal mines. It made me curious about the conditions of working in the mines around the turn of the century so I found a book from a local author that I thought you might enjoy reading, particularly if your ancestors were involved in coal mining. It's called 'Growing up in Coal Country' by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. Her husband's family is from NEPA so she had the benefit of interviewing many family members directly. She did a great job in describing the conditions of the mines when many of our ancestors settled in Wyoming Valley.

I also noticed that the author also wrote a book on the Irish potato famine called Black Potatoes, and since I am 3/4 Irish, I have been quite curious about how the famine affected Ireland and its people and why it happened. I've visited Ireland several times and so I've gotten some indication that the prevailing attitude among the Irish is that the famine was the fault of the British who had seized land from the Irish and worked them like sharecroppers, allowing them only enough land for their own use that they had no choice but to grow a crop like the potato, which has much larger caloric yield per acre than cash crops like wheat and barley. Those grain crops were grown on the majority of the property and then harvested by the tenant farmers only to be shipped off to England to pay the rent for the small portion of land they were allotted on which grow their own crops.

I think the author did an excellent job describing all the conditions that made for this disaster and gave a fair assessment of how the blights started and what the effects were on the population of Ireland during the years 1845-1850. I highly recommend both of these books.

Catching the Reading Bug

This blog got its start 18 years ago, just before our 25th reunion. Granted, it's not always been very active, but if anything important happens, it generally gets mentioned here. All of our classmate's passings in that time have been covered in this blog along with their obituaries. Sometimes that makes me feel a bit sad so I've tried occasionally to add some articles to entertain you. And Mr. Lynch has contributed some articles too. And if any of you feel like sharing a story you think might be of interest, you're always welcome to contribute.

In this blog in 2003, I wrote about a book that I had read as a youth. It was the first 'real' book I can recall finishing (not counting Dr. Seuss books :-) and I loved it. It was on a bookshelf in the back of our 4th grade classroom at St. John's and was entitled 'The Mystery of the Great Swamp' by Marjorie Zapf. I just re-read it AGAIN and still enjoyed it after all these years.

I often wished I could have shared with the author how it changed my life. Prior to reading that book, I had no interest in reading. After I read it, it turned me into a life-long reader. I still read a lot of books every year, although some of them I actually listen to while I take walks. I understand I'm in a minority. Some people, upon graduating from high school or college never read another book again, ever. And it is not a minority, it is around 80% of the population. So if you read books, count yourself among the minority. As Mark Twain once said, "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."

I recently did a search on the Marjorie Zapf's name and found that she lived only an hour from my home in Colorado down near Boulder. What are the odds of that? Unfortunately, she passed away 18 years ago. In her husband's obituary, I found a tribute from someone who had a personal connection with both of them. I decided to reach out to him to see how writing that book had affected her life. It turns out that Mrs. Zapf was an elementary school teacher and the book was very successful, causing a ton of mail from students expressing their appreciation with fan letters. She had a 3-drawer filing cabinet full of correspondence with readers from around the country. The time and expense in keeping up with all of the correspondence made her feel that writing any more books would not be a good use of her time!

It made me feel a bit relieved that I never did track her down to express my appreciation. I guess fame comes at a cost.

Speaking of cost, has anyone noticed that Amazon has some ridiculous prices on "new" old books? Take a gander at this:

I have a hard cover copy of this book that looks new, and it cost me about $4 with shipping so I'm feeling rich ;-). If you buy it through the link below you can get a used version of the book at a much better price.

Wyoming Valley Garment Industry

I was searching on the string 'United Pants Company Swoyersville' to see if I could find out more about it and it took me into an amazing rabbit hole of information about the garment industry in NE Pennsylvania. My mother worked in dress factories while I was growing up on Slocum Street in Swoyersville. The most amazing part of it is that she worked at no fewer than 5 factories and she never had a driver's license. They were all within walking distance of our house! And this wasn't uncommon in the Valley in the 1960s. Main Street in Pittston at one time had 40 dress factories!

I found that one of the best sources of information on this topic was from Robert Wolensky, a retired history professor who lives in Steven's Point, Wisconsin. How would someone from Wisconsin know so much about NEPA? Well, it's because he grew up in Wyoming Valley. Not only that, he graduated from West Side Central Catholic High School. He's also a Penn State graduate. He and his brother, Ken and his daughter Nicole have written several books on NEPA history that cover the coal industry as well as the garment industry. I read a few of these books recently and they were really well researched with lots of personal stories from people who were from our area who contributed to the books.

I just finished his book on the Knox Mine Disaster, which I was always curious about. That event took place the year most of us were born. If you want to learn more about NEPA history, I highly recommend both of these books.

I found out a lot of other interesting information about Mr. Wolensky's family that I will share in other postings.

Covid haircuts

As I was getting my hair trimmed yesterday by someone who is not a trained barber or beautician, i.e., my wife, I was reminded of a gentleman I used to work with who invented the product shown in the Wayne's World clip shown above. His product was called the RoboCut and he filed a patent on it in 1984. The product was quickly copied by a company that sold it under the name Flowbee which successfully sold millions of them using infomercials. I was surprised to find out that both companies are still in business and products are available on their websites. You can read about the inventor's fascinating history at haircut.com. In reading through the timeline of events, I would imagine that there must have been some legal issues over the patent but I don't know the outcome.

You can read about Flowbee's history at Wikipedia.

I can't speak about the efficacy of either product as I've never used one, but I think that the pandemic was good for both companies. As my mom used to say, "It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good."

The image above is from one of my favorite Leave It To Beaver episodes where he loses his haircut money and decides to do the job himself, and later gets some help from Wally who really messes things up! (The Haircut Season 1 episode 4). I've always been reluctant to trim my own hair after watching that as a young boy.