Category: default || By jt3y

They say deaths seem to come in threes. So it would seem in the Mon-Yough area, which has lost three people of note in less than a week: Former city mayor Thomas Fullard, former Daily News publisher Patricia J. Mansfield and Clairton Mayor Dominic Serapiglia.

Fullard had the bad luck to take over the city just as it was entering a period of steep decline. McKeesporters, like millions of other Americans, were moving to the suburbs in droves; inflation was hitting double-digits; and ill-planned redevelopment Downtown had chased away many paying businesses. And in September 1975, financial pressure (some of it caused by payments on the debts incurred by the redevelopment) had forced the city to lay off 17 police officers and 54 other workers in the streets, sewers, sanitation and water departments.

That Fullard handled his job with skill and aplomb was evidenced by Pat Cloonan's obit in Saturday's Daily News, where everyone --- including Fullard's political adversaries --- offered words of praise.

That fine tribute doesn't seem to have made it online, but Jerry Vondas' memorial in the Tribune-Review did.

It was sad to hear of the death of Mrs. Mansfield. It would be hard to overstate the impact that several generations of Mansfields have had on the region since 1925, when Senator William D. Mansfield and several business associates purchased the Daily News, though the paper's obit mentions some of the family's many charitable contributions.

Like Fullard, she took over a difficult job at a difficult time. Upon the death of her husband, longtime News publisher Tom Mansfield, the former middle-school teacher assumed the top position at the newspaper.

At one time, owning a local newspaper was a license to print money, but that's not the case any more. There are dead papers throughout our region, from the Monongahela Daily Herald to the Jeannette News-Dispatch to the Homestead Daily Messenger. It is to Mrs. Mansfield's great credit that she was able to preserve a great institution for another generation of Mansfield ownership, though it now survives under different stewardship.

That brings me to Mayor Serapiglia, who died after an illness. Brian Bowling's obit for the Trib tells a story that would not have seemed out of place in the 19th century.

His father died young, forcing young Dominic to shine shoes to bring in money for the family; when the Korean War broke out, he went to serve in the Marines; he came back to spend most of his adult life in public service jobs of one sort or another, working for the county, the Turnpike Commission, and state Sen. Sean Logan.

And he was a charming example of typical Mon-Yough chauvinism, rarely leaving Clairton, but as his son told the Trib, that kind of dedication has a strong positive side: "If every community had someone with that much passion for their town, they'd have something to be proud of."

. . .

On a lighter note: Practically everybody who read Friday's Almanac had a supermarket memory to share. Maybe I should lay off the politics permanently and just write about A&P and Thorofare.

Alert Reader Bill H. of Elizabeth writes that I forgot one well-known name in local supermarket circles:

While going through some old papers over the weekend I came across a picture from the Daily News that my mom had cut out. It was of my brother and the Elizabeth Forward High AV Club. I flipped it over and this ad was on the back, at least part of it. Bartolotta's was one of the super markets that was in the new A&P store at Lovedale before it was a Shop 'n Save. As far I know this was from about 1969 as my brother didn't graduate until 1970. It almost seems that the supermarkets are playing a large game of musical chairs.

Bill also sent the ad ... and look at the listing on the far right: Egad! Olympia Shopping Center!



Now, as I wrote Friday, I remembered the '70s supermarket lineup at Olympia being Giant Eagle, Thorofare and A&P ... but now I'm not so sure. So I checked a 1972 and a 1978 phone directory (what, you don't have one nearby?) and I can only find Thorofare listed at Olympia, in 1972. But now that Bill sends this ad, I do have a vague memory of Bartolotta's being there, too.

This will require further investigation. More details to come.

. . .

Tomorrow: International Village opens in Renzie Park at 3 p.m. Tuesday! This is Western Pennsylvania's first and premier ethnic food and music festival, and admission is nominal. The weather is supposed to be good, so we'll see you at the Village either tomorrow, Wednesday or Thursday.

Also Tuesday: I'll be giving you the "inside story" on all of the things about International Village that the city and the "mainstream news media" won't tell you.

Is the suspense mounting? Good!

Come to think of it: I'm just as excited as you to see what I'll reveal. Because I have absolutely no idea.