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84-year-old millionaire, Eberly, discusses life, money

By James Pletcher Jr. 9 min read

Robert Eberly can be called anything but complex. “I enjoy giving away money,’ the 84-year-old millionaire said.

And he has given away plenty: roughly $102 million since 1966. But while many praise him for his family’s philanthropy, others complain he uses his wealth to manipulate events and people.

Does he care?

“Criticism doesn’t really bother me. I have to keep my eyes on the horizon. I also consider the source. Does it bother me to be called a pharaoh? Not a damn bit,’ he said, referring to a reference once made by one of his foremost critics, Fayette County Commissioner Sean Cavanagh.

While he is a rich man today, he was not raised with wealth. Even his education was not business-oriented: he trained as a chemist.

Eberly was born July 14, 1918, in Greensboro, son of the late Orville and Ruth Rhoda Eberly. His father, an avid and nationally known trapshooter, brought the family to Allison in Fayette County when he started to work at a local mine.

Orville Eberly began building the fortune by investing in a “stocked out’ gas well before World War II, his son said.

“A stocked out well is one where someone has the lease but no money to drill it,’ his son, explained.

Apparently the fellow who had the lease sold shares in the well. Too many shares, Eberly added.

“He sold more than 100 percent of it. Dad found that out and took him to court. The court appointed Dad agent for the well and he made sure everyone got his money. He began to see the potential then in the natural gas business.’

That was how the Eberly wealth began. Later, banking entered the mix.

Orville Eberly created Gallatin National Bank (its first name was Second National Bank of Uniontown) by buying stock in Mellon Bank with proceeds from the gas business.

“I did enjoy building and operating this bank. I was working for the bank long before the bank was paying me,’ Robert Eberly said.

Businessmen had a different outlook in those days, he said, adding they didn’t realize what it took to hire and keep qualified personnel.

“The way I got the salary raised for our bank president was I asked Dad to come down to my office and told him how much he (the bank president) should be paid for his role. Once we had the amount set, we were OK. Before that, I couldn’t keep anybody very long because they would go off for more money.

“That’s just the way his generation was.’

But Orville also taught his son a valuable lesson in benefaction. “Dad told me once, ‘Don’t you know that anything you give out comes back to you 10 times over?”

That attitude helped charter the Eberly Foundation in 1958.

“Dad hated to pay taxes and we told him this would be one way to save some of that money,’ Eberly said.

Orville gave each of his children and grandchildren shares of bank stock. It was set up so that it would go back into the foundation upon the deaths of the holders. All of the money eventually goes to charity, Eberly said.

And so far, that charity has been exceedingly ample.

More than half the $102 million the foundation and trust have allocated have gone to education, one of his favorite charities.

“If I have a favorite charity, it would be Penn State University. I am also very involved in Uniontown Hospital so I am funding an open MRI there for $1 million.’

While he hasn’t acted alone doling out millions (his sisters, his sons and others of his family serve on the foundation and family trust) he has guided the decisions.

In 2000, the foundation paid out about $20 million, the most ever in a single year. In 2001, the amount was about $6 million.

But the foundation is winding down. By 2007 the Eberly Family Charitable Trust will become a grandchildren’s and great-grandchildren’s trust, passing on the philanthropic endeavors to the newer generations.

That plan includes “substantial support’ for Fay-Penn Economic Development Council, Penn State Fayette and West Virginia University.

There is also a new trust, the Robert E. and Elouise R. Eberly Foundation.

From 1966 to 2001, the Eberly Foundation paid $61.7 million while the Eberly Family Trust paid from 1985 through 2001 about $41 million.

Education has received pledges of more than $42 million from the foundation and trust.

But that’s the story today. Eberly began his vocation more than six decades ago.

“I had graduated from college (Penn State class of 1939) and went to work for the Navy in Pittsburgh as a chemical engineer (in 1940). After World War II, that job was done and Dad asked me to come back to Uniontown and help him with the business.’

In 1945 he became general manager of Eberly Natural Gas Co. in Uniontown and Oklahoma City, Okla.

From 1963 to 1988, he was secretary-treasurer of the Eberly Foundation in Uniontown where today he serves as trustee and trust manager.

Eberly had a long career in banking as well as natural gas and oil exploration.

From 1969 to 1977 he was president and treasurer of the GNB Corp., the holding company for Gallatin National Bank. He served as chairman of the board of GNB Corp. from 1977 to 1985, chairman of the board of Gallatin National Bank from 1977 to 1990, a board member of Pennbancorp of Titusville from 1986 to 1989 (which bought Gallatin National Bank), and a member of the board of directors of Integra Financial Corp. (former from a merger of Pennbanc) from 1988 to 1991.

Eberly was chairman of the board of Eberly & Meade Inc. of Uniontown and Oklahoma City from 1986 to 2000, president of Chalk Hill Gas Inc. from 1987 to 1994, and president of Greystone Resources Inc. from 1987 to present.

Eberly has been married twice. His first wife, Elizabeth (Betty) died on April 20, 1982, of complications stemming from severe diabetes.

“She had gone blind so I was her seeing eye dog,’ he said.

He and his second wife, Eloise have been married for nearly 21 years.

He has had some health problems. Most recently, he broke his ankle in a fall. It took a while to heal but now, he says, “I will be trying to destroy myself,’ as he installs some new exercise equipment in a room off his office.

He counts his major achievements as support of area universities, most notably Penn State, and serving as founder and president of Fay-Penn Economic Development Council.

He has received copious honors in his lifetime, including the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Annual Economic Development Citizen Leadership Award in 2001.

In 1972, Penn State named him a distinguished alumnus, the highest award it bestows on its graduates.

Among his more recent honors, Eberly was named B’nai B’rith Man of the Year for 1995; Thiel College, Greenville, presented him with an honorary doctorate of public service 1996; Boy Scouts of America-Westmoreland Council named his as an honorary Eagle Scout in 1997; Uniontown Health Resources Inc. in 1997 named him trustee emeritus, and the Drake Well Foundation presented Eberly with its Colonel Edwin L. Drake Legendary Oilman Award for 2001.

Fay-Penn honored him with a special plaque at its 2002 annual meeting, which bears his portrait and a special “prayer’ he has embossed on the back of his business cards. The bronze plaque hangs in Fay-Penn’s offices in downtown Uniontown.

He has a telescope in Texas named after him (an honor he shares with Bill Hobby, a former Texas lieutenant governor) and officials at California University of Pennsylvania tried unsuccessfully to change the name of that school to Eberly University.

He is a father, grandfather and great-grandfather who enjoys his descendants and proudly displays their photos (and some artwork) in his office.

He surfs the Internet with abandon, calling it one of the marvels of the century, but continues to carry a pocket watch his late wife gave him when he quit smoking.

His appearance today is grandfatherly. What’s left of his hair is white. Lines crack his face when he smiles. His gait has slowed.

His words, sometimes, are not so paternal. To a reporter he once said, “That damn story you wrote went over like a lead balloon,’ showing his irritation.

But his life, apart from the great wealth, could be anyone’s.

For example, he tells of how he once took his wife Betty to Mexico. She was almost completely blind. He led her to a beach area. A few moments later her screams horrified him.

“I couldn’t figure out what happened. She was in her bare feet. Well, the sand was so hot it burned her feet. I had to find a doctor there to take her to.’

Together they had two sons, Robert Jr. and Paul O.

Family photos crowd his office. He speaks with pride about a great-granddaughter who is “sharp as a tack.’

The children’s service as trustees in the family’s philanthropy, give him confidence that “the family’s commitment to community and philanthropy will remain strong as the mantle of leadership again passes from one generation to the next.

“Just as we succeeded our parents, Orville and Ruth Eberly, our children’s time will soon be at hand.’

He has been a passionate traveler, visiting the four corners of the globe. He favors Mexico where he has many friends and is “partners’ of a sort in a shoemaking enterprise.

He has been all over the world, although Mexico is his most preferred destination.

He likes it for its climate and the fact it gets no snow.

“I have made many friends there over the years. I can name all the children of the man I went into the shoe business with,’ he adds.

Once, when in Africa, he was visiting a game park where an ostrich “really took a fancy to my glasses. Bang,’ he said, jerking his head back re-enacting how the bird tried to take the glasses from his face. “He nearly took my eye out.’

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