Skook News Obituaries: January 24th, 2025
Obituaries published from the Schuylkill County area.
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Born in Port Carbon, August 14, 1936, he was the son of the late Andrew and Mary Romanchik Straka.
William served as a Private First Class in the United States Army. He was stationed in Europe during the Korean Conflict. William spent over ten years in service to his country.
After he came out of the Army, while in the Reserves, William worked on a dredge ship up and down the East Coast for almost ten years.
He was a member of Christ Church in McKeansburg.
William was self-employed as a carpenter throughout his life. He was very talented and had built his own home in 1972 from the ground up. William also raised Christmas trees on his properties later in life.
William was an accomplished hunter and traveled throughout North American on hunting trips. He especially enjoyed his trips to Quebec. He was also an avid poker player and enjoyed playing cards with his family and friends. William was also an animal lover and was fond of his former pet Schultz.
He was married to the late Lois Focht Straka who passed away in 2008.
In addition to his parents and wife, William was preceded in death by his brother Andrew.
William is survived by his brother Edward M. Straka husband to Helen Dinich Straka of Shillington. He is survived by his brother’s wife; Dolores Straka of Friedensburg. He is also survived by numerous nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.
William’s family would like to thank the staff of Pinebrook Personal Care facility along with Dr. Kamala Mishra and staff and Geisinger St. Luke’s Hospital who provided wonderful care during his time of need.
A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, January 28th at Grabowski Funeral Home, Schuylkill Haven, at 11:00 A.M. A visitation for family and friends will be held from 10:00 A.M. until the time of services. Interment with military honors will follow on the grounds of Schuylkill Memorial Park, Schuylkill Haven. In lieu of flowers donations in William’s memory can be made to Christ Church, 6 S. Race Street, New Ringgold, PA 17960 or the Hillside SPCA, PO Box 233, Pottsville, PA 17901. Memories and condolences can be shared at www.grabowskifuneralhome.com.
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Born in Pottsville on December 3, 1951, David was the son of the late Paul F. Lorence and Marion (Yankosky) Lorence, who survives him in Cumbola. David was a 1969 St. Clair Area graduate. During his high school years, David played the accordion in a band known as the Starlighters. He proudly served in the United States Air Force from 1970 – 1974. Upon his return from his service in the Air Force, David was employed by Bavarian Brewery in Mt. Carbon. He then worked as an operator at Bell Telephone Company in Pottsville. Afterwards, he became the operator of Lawrence Service Station in Cumbola, which he proudly owned for over 40 years. When David wasn’t working as a mechanic, he loved spending time camping, hunting, traveling, and being outside with his family.
David was a devoted member of the Cumbola United Methodist Church, the Cumbola Goodwill Hose Company, AMVETS, American Legion, and Veterans of Vietnam War Post 29.
In addition to his wife Michele and Mother Marion, David is survived by two sons: Michael (Paula) Lorence of Cumbola and John (Jennifer) Lorence of Chesapeake, VA and a daughter Mary (Fred) Schrader of Danville. He was lovingly known as Jawgee to his seven grandchildren, Emily, Ryan, Rachael, Charlotte, Freddy, Theo, and Benny. He is also survived by siblings Luann, Paul, Daniel, and Maria, along with several nieces and nephews.
A Religious Service will be held at 7PM on Wednesday January 29, 2025 at the Robert A. Evans Jr. Funeral Home in Port Carbon, with Rev. Lorraine Heckman officiating.
Relatives and friends are invited to a viewing on Wednesday evening from 5-7pm at the Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be made in his memory to Cumbola United Methodist Church.
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Born in Frackville, PA on September 20, 1940, she was the daughter of the late William and Adeline (Jones) Flail.
Sandra was a graduate of Frackville High School, Class of 1958. She retired as Postmaster of the Llewellyn Post Office. Sandra was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Pottsville, she loved planting flowers every year, and was a loving Mother and grandmother, who will be dearly missed.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 65 years, Patrick Francis Moore, Sr. on January 8, 2025, sisters: Alice Cunningham and Marie Snyder and a great-granddaughter Lainie Marie Kaminski.
Sandra is survived by son Patrick F. Moore, Jr. and his wife Janice, Hegins; daughters: Debra Zyk and her husband Andrew, Cressona and Jane Myro and her fiance' Jose Lopez, Schoentown; seven grandchildren: Natalie, Kimberly, Patrick, Nicholas, Rachel, Justine, and Jaimie; eleven great-grandchildren: Madison, Gabrielle, Emma, Victoria, Vanessa, Easton, Gage, Autumn, Ivy, Jenevieve, and Wyatt; siblings: Gertrude Haron, William Flail, Adeline Metzinger, David Flail, and Marilee Greig; and nieces and nephews.
A Memorial Service will be held at Robert A. Evans Jr. Funeral Home, Port Carbon at 11AM on Thursday, January 30th, with Rev. Dr. Kurt K. Kovalovich officiating.
Relatives and Friends are invited to visit with the family on Thursday morning from 9-11AM at the Funeral Home.
Interment will be private.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Charles Baber Preservation 200 South Second Street Pottsville, PA 17901.
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Born in Auburn on January 17, 1947, he was the son of the late Laura (Mengel) and Grant Baver.
Gary was a 1966 graduate of Blue Mountain High School.
He served in the National Guard.
Gary was a railroad worker for 40 years; beginning his career at Reading Railroad and finishing it with Norfolk & Southern.
Gary was an avid hunter and outdoorsman, loved trains, and always enjoyed his early morning meetings at the Auburn Mini Mart.
Gary is survived by two sons, Alan Baver & Gary Baver, Jr., both of Auburn, along with two sisters, Ilene Huntzinger of Schuylkill Haven, & Marilyn Kerschner of Orwigsburg.
In addition to his parents, Gary is preceded in death by wife, Bertha (Stusalitus) Baver.
Services are private at the convenience of family.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be forwarded to Geschwindt Stabingas Ebling Funeral Home Inc., 25 East Main Street, Schuylkill Haven, PA 17972, to help defray the costs of the funeral.
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Following graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and enjoyed traveling abroad seeing the world as a peace-time veteran. He was honorably discharged on August 31, 1962. Following this, he was employed for the rest of his working life at Boly's Iron Work's in Shenandoah. Here he worked on various projects over the years. He was most proud when he was asked to help construct the large staircase in the center of the Steamtown Mall, in Scranton, PA.
In addition to his career, he joined the Columbia Hose Fire Company on June 19, 1959 and was to be an integral part of both the fire company and the larger borough and county firefighting associations. He was a Fire Marshal for several years before becoming the borough Fire Chief for a term in the early 1980's. At the Columbia Hose, he was truly the "jack of all trades" in that he in all probability filled every role at the fire hose from being an active fire fighter, to the speaker at testimonial dinners, to the fix-it cleaning person. He will be greatly missed in fire company and the greater community at-large. Additionally, he held memberships and roles in the Shenandoah Fire Relief Ass'n, Schuylkill Fire Relief Ass'n, Six-county Relief Ass'n, Park Crest Fish & Game Protective Ass'n, The Ancient Order of Lame Ducks, and the Rum-Dums; he was the Grand Guzzler in the early 1980's.
He also found the time to enjoy woodworking, hunting and fishing, and camping and visiting fire towers with his son, Daniel.
He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, five half-brothers, and three half-sibling brothers in infancy, as well as several nieces and nephews. He is survived by his son, Rabbi Daniel Bubnis and his husband, Dr. Timothy Legg, his sister, his former wife, and many nieces and nephews and his larger family at Columbia Hose and the community.
A Celebration of Life will be held at a future date which will be announced by the Walukiewicz-Oravitz Fell Funeral Home, 132 South Jardin Street, Shenadoah. His son, Rabbi Daniel Bubnis will officiate. He will be laid to rest with his parents in the Lady of Fatima Cemetery will full military honors.
My dad had a long and full life-90 years. The last few years had a few bumps in the road health-wise, but he pressed on and continued doing the things he loved right up to the day he passed away. May his memory always be for a blessing! You may leave an online condolence at www.woffuneralhome.com
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to: Temple Israel of Scranton, 918 East Gibson Street, Scranton, PA 18510 https://www.templeisraelscranton.org/tribute-donations/ or Jewish Family Services of NEPA, 615 Jefferson Ave. Suite 204, Scranton, PA 18510 https://jfsnepa.org/tribute/
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These obituaries are being brought to by Schuylkill Elder Abuse Prevention Alliance
