Derry Township farmer carried on tradition

It was well known throughout Derry Township that if you were down on your luck and weren't afraid of hard work, Frank Skacel would find a job for you.

"Dad only had two or three regular employees," said his son, Dr. Frank Skacel. "And yet dozens and dozens of people have told me that they worked on Dad's farm."

Frank E. Skacel Sr., of Derry Township, died on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2004, at Mountain View Specialty Care Center, Unity Township. He was 85.

"If you worked for Dad, you knew that you could also get a good meal. My mother and grandmother were terrific cooks. It seems we always had company for dinner," Dr. Skacel said.

"My sisters, Margery and Linda, and myself had our chores. And we did them before we went to school and after we returned from school.

"My Dad was fair and easy to work with. The farm was his life. But Dad, along with Mom, encouraged us to obtain an education.

"I'm a veterinarian. I obtained my degrees from Penn State and the University of Pennsylvania. My sister, Margery, was a music major at Duquesne University, and my sister, Linda, received her degree in economics from Indiana University of Pennsylvania."

Born and raised in Derry Township, Mr. Skacel was one of three children of Frank and Florence Chodel Skacel. Mr. Skacel's grandfather started the farm in 1926 and his father also was a farmer.

In 1940, Mr. Skacel dropped out of Derry High School to take over the farm when his brother, Bill, died.

Two years later, Mr. Skacel married Mary DiCenzo, also a resident of Derry Township. "Mom was a good bookkeeper. She became the farm's business manager," their son said.

Mr. Skacel's love of the land was the catalyst for his becoming an active member of the board of directors and treasurer of the Westmoreland Conservation District.

He was also a charter member and assisted in initiating the Westmoreland Farmland Preservation Program, which ensured that farmland wouldn't be sold for development."They were successful. There's a lot of farmland that has been preserved," Dr. Skacel said.

Mr. Skacel is survived by his wife, Mary C. DiCenzo Skacel; son, Dr. Frank E. Skacel Jr. and his wife, Suzanne, of Blairsville, Indiana County; two daughters, Margery Schell and her husband, Frederick, of Crafton, and Linda Sinemus and her husband, Ronald, of Latrobe; and four grandchildren.

He was predeceased by a brother, William Skacel; and a sister, Lydia Wigle.

A funeral Mass will be offered at 11 a.m. today at St. Martin Church, New Derry, with the Rev. Martin R. Bartel as celebrant. Interment will follow in Coles Cemetery, Derry Township.

Arrangements by the Michael J. Quinlisk Funeral Home, Derry Township.