Fayette Countians recall Mascara’s impact on region
?The death of former U.S. Rep. Frank R. Mascara of Charleroi was mourned Monday by employees and friends from Fayette County.
Despite early beginnings that included losing both parents and a grandfather at a young age, Mascara went on to work tirelessly for others. He was described as a great family man and public servant.
“He was so connected to his family. I have never seen a man love his family as much as Frank did,” said friend and former employee Chris Buckelew of Uniontown. “He was a good man and he never let bitterness enter his soul.”
Mascara, 81, died Sunday morning in Monongahela Valley Hospital in Carroll Township. The Washington County Democrat was elected Washington County controller in 1973 and chairman of the Washington County Board of Commissioners in 1980, where he advocated for the construction of the Mon/Fayette Expressway and Southpointe in Cecil Township. He was elected to Congress in 1994 and lost his seat in 2003 after redistricting forced a run against former U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha.
Buckelew, a friend of Mascara’s for 41 years, first met Mascara when her husband taught him during an evening class as California University of Pennsylvania.
Buckelew said Mascara and his wife stood up for her and her husband when they married and the friendship lasted until his death.
Buckelew also worked for Mascara in his Fayette County office when he served in Congress.
Fayette County Commission Chairman Vincent Zapotosky, who worked for Mascara during his eight years in Congress, said the area has suffered a great loss.
“He was truly a man that cared about people,” Zapotosky said.
Zapotosky recalled that when Mascara came up with the idea for Southpointe, which is now a very successful multi-use business and residential park, it was referred to as “Frank’s follies.”
Buckelew recalled a story of Mascara getting a bad feeling about his son Mark when his son was 16 and in football camp. When he rushed to his son, he discovered that Mark Mascara had broken his back. Mark died last year of cancer.
“He just knew it and he was there,” Buckelew said. “He believed in faith, family and hard work.”
Zapotosky said on Monday, the day that the West Virginia link of the Mon/Fayette Expressway opened, would have been a day that Mascara would have been proud of.
Zapotosky said Mascara was a great man, who treated him like a son. He said the memories of Mascara include somber ones of spending 9/11 with him and lighter ones, like Mascara attending a county softball league game to watch him play.
As the only member of former U.S. Rep. Austin J. Murphy’s staff to work for Mascara, Zapotosky said he was honored to be brought on board.
He said Mascara was a great man with humble beginnings who fudged his age to get into the U.S. Army.
“His motto was to ‘try your best for everybody,'” Zapotosky said.
“He was a great public official and a great person,” said Fayette County Commissioner Vincent A. Vicites, who also called Mascara a friend.
Vicites said Mascara got the funding for a federal highway demonstration project and helped keep the Mon/Fayette Expressway project going when it needed momentum.
U.S. Rep. Mark S. Critz, D-Johnstown, said he hopes that it is a comfort to Mascara’s wife and children that so many people are grieving their loss and praying for them.
“A fixture in southwestern Pennsylvania politics for decades, Congressman Frank Mascara was a blue-collar, working-class Democrat who never forgot where he came from. He was a staunch advocate for economic development, and his work — from the Mon-Fayette Expressway to the Southpointe business park — has had an enormous impact on our region,” Critz said.
Critz, a former staff member for Murtha, replaced his boss in a special election last year following Murtha’s death.
Mascara is survived by his wife, Dolores; two sons, Frank of West Palm Beach, Fla., and Jon, of Belle Vernon and a daughter, Karen Talbert of Belle Vernon.