Brownsville area civic leader Chuck Kormos dead at 75
LUZERNE TWP. – Chuck Kormos is being remembered in the greater Brownsville community for his generous spirit and outgoing nature after his death on Friday. Kormos, 75, was a longtime member of the Hiller Volunteer Fire Department, the American Legion and St. Peter’s Church.
“He was probably our best fund-raiser. A guy like him took care of everything. To replace him, you’d need three people,” said Pat Ballon, Hiller fire chief. “He organized the bingo. He made sure the supplies were there. The energy the man had was just unbelievable.”
The firefighters will hold a memorial service for Kormos on Sunday at Skirpan Funeral Home, Ballon said, and will provide any other honors the family requests.
Kormos joined the fire department after his retirement. He was a past treasurer of the fire department and headed the bingo committee at the time of his death.
“Here was a guy, who, when he had some extra time, donated it to the community,” Ballon said.
Kormos also headed the Joe Zosky Memorial Fund at the fire hall, with the donations given to the Free Care Fund at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. Kormos would collect each Friday night at the Hiller Fire Department Social Hall and every Monday night at bingo. Several times a year, he would collect at Grindstone Foodland for the Free Care Fund.
Statistics for the past year were not available, but Children’s Hospital officials last year estimated that the Hiller Fire Department, through Kormos’ efforts, had donated more than $141,000 for the fund since 1979. He received a commemorative plaque last year for his efforts.
The Rev. Vince Gigliotti of the partner parishes of St. Peter and St. Mary of the Assumption said Kormos was a member of the Historic Church of St. Peter, but was willing to do whatever was needed at either church.
“He was co-chairman of our semi-annual bonanza ticket. It’s a major fund-raiser for our church,” Rev. Gigliotti said.
Rev. Gigliotti said that when the church tried to form a committee on what to do regarding a social hall when problems developed with the old building, Kormos was the first to volunteer.
“He was a firm foundation in the church community,” Rev. Gigliotti said.
Kormos was an usher and greeter at St. Peter’s and will be buried in his red usher’s blazer.
Rev. Gigliotti said Kormos had a way of making everyone feel welcome at the church.
“He was just a wonderful greeter,” he said.
George Babko served as an usher with Kormos and had known him for more than two decades.
“He and I were very close friends. He had a great sense of humor and was very civic-minded,” Babko said.
“We always met early in the morning for coffee on our way to work.”
It was a tradition that continued long into their retirements, with the two meeting daily at Fiddle’s Confectionary in Brownsville.
“He socialized with everybody. He was very outgoing. He’s definitely going to be missed by all of us down here,” said Denise Moore, a waitress at Fiddle’s.
“When he wasn’t here, we were wondering where he was at.”
Kormos also was a member of the Sons of Italy in Brownsville and a member and past president of Construction Local 286.