Skook News Obituaries for 07/23/2020
Obituaries for Schuylkill County and the surrounding areas.
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Nathan Earl Gillette, 46, of Folcroft, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, July 21st, at his residence.
Born in Chester, on September 26, 1973, a son of the late Darlene "Gypsy" Dugent of Ridley and Gary Gillette of Florida. He is preceded in death by his grandparents, Anne and Fred Contino, Sr., of Woodlyn, PA.
Nate was a graduate of West Hazleton High school. He then attended Penn State University, University Park where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. He then graduated from Widener School of Law, Harrisburg, PA and received his Juris Doctorate degree.
He is survived by his sister Angel Gillette wife of Mike Ferguson, Schuylkill Haven; brother Shawn Gillette and girlfriend Fran Caggiano, Minersville; father Gary Gillete and wife Laura Gillette; and uncle Fred Contino, Jr., and wife Debbie Contino, Ridley, PA.
Nate's hobbies included spending time with friends and family, playing hockey, fantasy football in the MOOSE League, cooking, fishing, and playing Magic the Gathering with his brother and nephews.
Services will be held privately. A celebration of life ceremony will be held for family and friends.
Donations made in lieu of flowers can be made to Ruth Steinert SPCA P.O. Box 332 Schuylkill Haven, PA 17972.
Born in Chester, on September 26, 1973, a son of the late Darlene "Gypsy" Dugent of Ridley and Gary Gillette of Florida. He is preceded in death by his grandparents, Anne and Fred Contino, Sr., of Woodlyn, PA.
Nate was a graduate of West Hazleton High school. He then attended Penn State University, University Park where he received his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. He then graduated from Widener School of Law, Harrisburg, PA and received his Juris Doctorate degree.
He is survived by his sister Angel Gillette wife of Mike Ferguson, Schuylkill Haven; brother Shawn Gillette and girlfriend Fran Caggiano, Minersville; father Gary Gillete and wife Laura Gillette; and uncle Fred Contino, Jr., and wife Debbie Contino, Ridley, PA.
Nate's hobbies included spending time with friends and family, playing hockey, fantasy football in the MOOSE League, cooking, fishing, and playing Magic the Gathering with his brother and nephews.
Services will be held privately. A celebration of life ceremony will be held for family and friends.
Donations made in lieu of flowers can be made to Ruth Steinert SPCA P.O. Box 332 Schuylkill Haven, PA 17972.
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Born in Pottsville, on August 12, 1947, Bonnie was the older daughter of the late Florence (Sheeler) and Thomas Casey.
Bonnie was a graduate of Pottsville Area High School, class of 1965, and attended Goldey-Beacom College in Delaware. Bonnie retired last year after over 30 years of service as a switchboard operator at LVHN/Pottsville Hospital.
Bonnie enjoyed taking trips to the beach and New York City, spending time with Riley, and going out with friends.
Bonnie is survived by a son, Erik, husband of Bridget Llewellyn, of Park City, Utah; a daughter, Casey Moyer, of Schuylkill Haven grandchildren Riley Moyer, Chloe Llewellyn and Brody Miller; sister Nancy Casey Miele, California.
Services will be held privately.
The family requests donations in Bonnie's memory to Hillside SPCA, PO Box 233, Pottsville PA 17901.
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Born February 9, 1975 in Ashland, she was the daughter of Edward and JoAnn (Kolenick) Zuppert.
She was a member of the former Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church, St. Clair where she participated as a lecture.
She was a 1994 Graduate of Blue Mountain High School. While in high school she played the flute and cymbals in the band. After graduation, she worked as an LPN for York Terrace Nursing Home, Pottsville and was recently employed by Long John Silver's, Cressona. She loved collecting movies.
Melissa was a beautiful person inside and out. Her kindness and generosity will be deeply missed by those who had the pleasure of knowing her. Mimi as she was affectionately referred to by her nieces and nephews.
Melissa was preceded in death by her maternal and paternal grandparents.
She is survived by her parents Edward and JoAnn, Cressona; sister, Andrea Renee wife of Christopher Prete, Shamokin; and six nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held 11AM on Wednesday, July 29, 2020, at Schlitzer Allen Pugh Funeral Home 515 West Market Street, Pottsville. Family and friends may call from 10AM until the time of the service at the funeral home.
Please visit SchlitzerAllenPugh.com to leave a condolence for the Zuppert family.
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Born in Pottsville, on September 16, 1930, he was the son of the late William and Elizabeth (Boyle) Feeley.
He was a graduate of Pottsville High School and proudly served in the U.S. Army in the Korean War.
James was a member of St. Claire of Assisi, St. Clair and the former St. Stephen RCC, Port Carbon.
He was owner/operator and florist at the family business, John D. Joyce Florist Shop, retiring in 2001.
James was a member of the FTD Association and a former Boy Scout leader.
He was a backup Olympic bobsledder and practiced in Lake Placid, NY. In his spare time he enjoyed photography, being outdoors and working in his yard and garden.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Dolores M. (Kelly), in 2004, and to whom he was married for 45 years; sisters: Elizabeth Feeley and Margaret Mansell; and brother, William Feeley.
James is survived by two daughters, Mary Beth McFadden, wife of James, of Warrington, PA and Janet B. McLaughlin, wife of Gary, of Pottsville; grandchildren: Kelly, Missi, Cynthia, and Danny; great grandchildren: Marc and Jayden; and several nieces and nephews.
Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday, July 27th, at 11:00 a.m in St. Claire of Assisi, 250 E. Hancock St., Saint Clair with Msgr. William Glosser officiating. A viewing will be held on Sunday evening from 6-8:00 p.m. at Lord-Bixler Funeral Home, Inc., 1818 Mahantongo St., Pottsville, and on Monday morning from 9:30 a.m. until the procession will leave for church.
Interment with military honors will follow in Our Lady of Calvary Cemetery, Pottsville.
Lord-Bixler Funeral Home, Inc. is in charge of arrangements.
Online condolences may be expressed at Lord-Bixler Funeral Home | Pottsville, PA
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Born at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville on December 31, 2003, he was a son of Leo J. Mirolli Jr. and the former Kelly Donkochik, Coal Township. He was a student at Shamokin Area Jr./Sr. High School where he attended the multi disabilities classroom with his friends.
Luke was of the Catholic faith and was a parishioner of Our Lady of Hope Church, Coal Township. He was diagnosed with Retts Syndrome at the age of 4 years old. Even though he faced many challenges in life, he always had a smile and a hearty laugh. It is often said that parents are supposed to teach their children; but instead, Luke often taught his parents that it is the little things in life that mean the most and that life is precious.
Luke was an animal lover, he had 3 cats and 2 dogs. His first cat, Cotton, would sleigh ride with him every winter. He loved to bake and do arts and crafts; he really was an artist. He loved spending time with his brothers and sisters on outings and, most recently, spending time with his new nephew, Asher. He loved going for walks and especially loved his lights and music which he would listen to on his headset. His favorite foods were cotton candy, milkshakes, lollipops, Pepsi, Peppermint Patties, cherry slushies and iced tea. He was a teddy bear lover and his nickname from his mom and dad was Lukie Bear. He loved to garden and his flowers actually started to bloom the day he became an angel. He loved attending Rohrbach’s special needs family night for the annual pumpkin patch.
He loved attending all sporting events with his family such as the Phillies, Flyers, Sixers, Orioles. He also enjoyed watching his brothers play football especially when his brother would play for the Lycoming Warriors Football team. He also enjoyed watching his sister cheering for the Shamokin Indians. His favorite football team was the Philadelphia Eagles which he watched with his father and grandfather, Leo. He even got to watch them win their first-ever Super Bowl. The Philadelphia Eagles also came to play basketball for him as a fundraiser when he first got sick. Luke also got to meet and take a picture that was later autographed by former Eagles coach, Andy Reid.
Luke was blessed by the Make-A-Wish Foundation for his 10th birthday in 2013 with a trip to Orlando, where he and his family stayed at Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee, Florida. They visited Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, and Sea World. He met Frank the Pug from Men in Black. Luke got to place a personalized gold star in the Give Kids the World Castle of Miracles and Star Tower, there are well over 100,000 gold stars that shine brightly, each one representing dreams, wishes, and memories of the children who have visited. He loved to relax in the family pool on his special raft every summer. Every year, he participated in the annual Shamokin Halloween parade, winning several times throughout the years for his unique costumes.
He attended the Special Olympics in Mount Carmel every year and received many medals and ribbons of which he was very proud. Luke began his baseball career for Shamokin/Coal Township Little League when in 2013 he received the good sportsmanship award. He then continued his career playing for the Challengers team at Cabrini Baseball after the organization took over the Challengers program. Sadly, he and others were unable to play this year due to COVID-19. Luke was a member of the Men’s Bucknell Lacrosse Team since 2015 through Team Impact. The Lacrosse Team would greet Luke and his family with chants of “Luke”.
He belonged to the Star Light Star Bright foundation and Casey Cares Foundation which provided resources and events for special needs children. Luke was able to attend two proms; one this past February Tim Tebow”s “The Night to Shine” and the year before “Magic Makers” in Lewisburg. Luke attended the PA State Police Sunny Day Camp that was held in 2018 at Pocono Raceway and was able to ride around the NASCAR track. His family, friends and caregivers also took him to every amusement park across Pennsylvania, including his yearly multiple trips to Knoebel's, his favorite park. He also visited Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, Cedar Point and King's Island in Ohio. He went on shorter trips to places like the Crayola Factory, Turkey Hill Experience, Hershey World, Lake Tobias and many museums.
These activities represent a mere fraction of all the things that Luke was involved in to make his life as normal as possible, despite the challenges that he faced in his short life. Luke's Mom always made sure that Luke was the main priority in all of these trips and tried to give him the most normal life possible. There was nothing that she felt Luke couldn’t do, just because he was different from his siblings. Luke was not a fan of Monday’s and his family and caregivers would have to fib to him and say it was actually Tuesday. Luke loved to bag school and have movie days with his family. Luke left his imprint on this world and made it a much kinder place to live in. Luke was a fighter and his stubbornness kept him fighting until the very end. He will live on in the hearts of so many. Our precious Angel is now resting in peace of the arms of Jesus.
In addition to his parents, Luke is survived by his older brother, Leo J. Mirolli III, (companion, Alexandrian Hartman) and twin siblings, Logan Mirolli (companion, Emily Schlee) and Leah Mirolli; a nephew, Asher Michael Legend Mirolli, all of Coal Township. Maternal grandparents, George and Rieta Donkochik. Paternal grandmother, Mary James. He is also survived by uncles, aunts and several cousins. He was preceded in death by a maternal great grandmother Theresa Filohoski, maternal grandmother Jolene Donkochik, and paternal grandfather Leo Mirolli Sr.
Donations will be accepted to be used according to the needs of the family. Please click on the "Donate Funeral Funds" link above for more information.
Arrangements are incomplete.
Dutcavich Funeral Home, Minersville, is in charge of arrangements
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