Brownsville chamber to honor Gratz
BROWNSVILLE – David Gratz’s first week working in the railroad industry wasn’t exactly what he expected to be doing with his engineering degree. Gratz was hired by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Pittsburgh in November of 1950, shortly before a blizzard that dumped 30 inches of snow on the city.
“They opened the street car tracks and I never missed a day of work. One of my first jobs was to go out and hire anyone who could hold a shovel. We shoveled snow for the first week,” Gratz said.
Gratz is this year’s honoree for the Greater Brownsville Area Chamber of Commerce river cruise on June 25.
Gratz’s railroading career including serving as the Division Engineer for the Monongahela Railway from 1961 through 1974, when he was named Superintendent of the railway. He held that position until 1989 when the Monongahela Railway was separated from its parent firm, the Pennsylvania and Lake Erie Railroad. Gratz was then named director of real estate and labor relations, the position he held until his retirement in 1992.
“Dave has served the community very well since he’s been here,” said chamber President Frank Ricco. “He’s very, very active in the community. He’s just a great guy. He was a great selection.”
Gratz has been involved in numerous railroad organizations, but he has also been actively involved in a variety of community organizations.
“Working on the railroad, they fostered your civic involvement with the community you were in,” Gratz said. “I used to go to school board meetings and they asked if I’d be their representative to the Brownsville-Luzerne Park Board.”
Gratz served as president of the park board for several years. Another person asked if he would serve as the Brownsville area representative to the Fayette County Association for the Blind. He served on that board for 24 years, rising to the position of president. He also served nine years on the Brownsville General Hospital Board of Directors. Gratz noted that the railroad was an early sponsor of the community-based hospital.
“I just never could say no, that’s what my problem was,” Gratz said.
He is currently active in eight community organizations, serving as a director for the Fay-Penn Industrial Development Corp., Crosskeys Human Services and the Brownsville Historical Society. He is president of the Bridgeport Cemetery Association and president pro tem of the Izaak Walton League of America, Brownsville Chapter. He is a member of the Transportation Alliance of Fayette County, the Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp., and a life member of the Brownsville Lodge No. 60 F&AM.
Tickets for the chamber cruise are $35 per person and they are available at the Brownsville Bus Lines office on National Pike East and at the chamber office located at Bowman’s Insurance on Market Street. The event includes dinner and dancing on one of the boats from the Gateway Clipper fleet, with boarding at the new Brownsville Wharf starting at 6:30 p.m.