Sunday, October 5, 2008
THE - DALLAS POST
4
PAGE 5
Two area business owners
pass away on same day
By REBECCA BRIA
rbria@timesleader.com
Two former Back Mountain
business owners died on the same
day last month.
Former Shadowbrook co-foun-
der and co-owner Peggy Welch Ste-
vens, 80, died on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
Robert A. Rave Sr., 87, co-founder
and co-owner of the former Rave’s
Garden Centers, Robert A. Rave
Sr., 87, also died that day.
Rave’s Garden Center was a
place many Back Mountain resi-
dents visited for years to buy plants
and gardening supplies. The store
existed for many years in the Back
Mountain and in Wyoming, Ashley
and Clarks Summit.
Rave was a graduate of Kingston
Township High School and earned
a bachelor’s degree in commerce
and finance from Pennsylvania
State University. He served as a ser-
geant in the United States Army in
Italy during World War II.
In1950, Rave and his brother, Lou,
started a business across from Cad-
die LaBar’s on Memorial Highway.
“At that time, there really we-
ren’t too many of them (garden
centers) around,” said Scott Rave,
Rave’s son. “He and his brother
both had a love for plants and grew
up doing things with plants. He
saw it as an opportunity to do busi-
ness.”
But the location proved to be
problematic. The landlord wanted
the Rave brothers to buy the stor
but, worse yet, the extremely close
proximity to the highway caused
damage to the plants.
“Many Sunday mornings at like
4 in the morning, the police would
call and my dad would have to go
down there because people would
be drunk and drive into the shrub-
bery,” Scott said. “I have a paper on
which my father wrote, ‘Some of
our friends thought we got our
start in business because of money
we received in accidents.”
The Raves closed the Dallas lo-
cation and opened a bigger store
just one year later on Memorial
Highway in Shavertown. The lot
was about 1000 feet south of the
current traffic light on Route 309
and Center Street. Rave’s aunt, Flo-
rence Rave, lived directly behind
the store across Toby Creek and a
footbridge over the creek allowed
Rave to easily walk to his aunt’s
house which served as the land-
scaping headquarters.
In the late 1960s, the Raves once
again relocated to another spot in
Shavertown, about a quarter of a
mile south of the old location on
Memorial Highway.
Other stores were later opened
in Ashley, Clarks Summit and
Rave’s sons, Robert Jr. and Scott,
bought the business in 1996. Lou
Rave died in 1998. Robert Jr. and
Scott closed the remaining stores -
the Shavertown, Ashley and Clarks
Summit location s-in February 2004.
“He had a great sense of humor
and would joke around with people,”
Scott said of his father. “He would try
to get them (customers) the plants
they needed for the area he wanted
to plant. He would work all day,
come home and eat dinner and go
back and work until the sun went
down.”
Once, the elder Rave had a run-
in, literally, with a customer.
“Jack Palance, the actor from Co-
nyngham Township, used to come
to our Ashley store,” Scott said.
“One time, my dad literally ran into
him. He was going to use our bath-
room and my dad was coming out.
Jack Palance said something to
him that was funny, something
like, Istherea
two-seater in
there, or no?”
susmITTED PHOTO and the Rave
Robert A. Rave
Sr., 87, co-foun-
der and co-owner
of the former
Rave's Garden » 3
Center, died on
September 16.
years ago, casual outdoor furniture
also became a big part of the busi-
ness.
Peggy Stevens graduated from
Tunkhannock High School in 1945
and worked at a bank until she mar-
ried her husband, Robert, in 1948.
Robert had worked on Shadow-
brook, his family’s farm in Tunkhan-
nock, as a milkman.
The same year that Robert and
Peggy married, they also took over
ownership of the farm. In 1955, the
couple opened Shadowbrook Dairy
Farm and sold their dairy cattle in
1957 to start the Shadowbrook Hous-
ing Development.
The Stevenses later expanded
their business to become Shadow-
brook Inn and Resort, featuring a
motel, bowling lanes, dining room,
bar, campground and an 18hole
golf course. When the restaurant
first opened, Peggy cooked all of the
food herself. That was inaddition to
being a homemaker and a mother
of five children.
After Robert and Peggy sold Shad-
owbrook Inn and Resort in May of
1981, they retired to Sun City Center,
Fla., about 40 minutes south of Tam-
pa on the state’s west coast. Peggy
had a circulation problem and could
no longer tolerate northeastern
Pennsylvania winters.
Peggy took pottery classes at Ma-
natee Community College in Bra-
denton, Fla. and became a skilled
potter. She taught pottery classes
and she and her daughter, Gail Viec-
zorek, created a local business to-
gether called P and G Creations.
“She was always a crafty type of
person,” Vieczorek said of her
mother.
According to a story in The
Times Leader’s archives, Peggy did
pottery demonstrations at the 17th
Annual Wyoming County Arts and
Crafts Fair in Meshoppen in 1994.
She and Vieczorek brought along
crafts from P and G Creations.
“I don’t know if our turnout will be
as good as other years because of the
heat,” Peggy said in the story. “But
there was quite a crowd watching me
demonstrate the pottery wheel.” -
Peggy purchased a home in Eat-
on Hills in Tunkhannock during the
summer months after Robert died
in April 2006.
For the past three years when in
Florida, Peggy assisted her daugh-
ter, Betty, and son, Jack, with their
business called Java Cow Ice
Cream Café, a coffee and ice-cream
shop in Sun City Center.
“When they would do catered
things, she would help put the hot
fudge in the ice-cream and other
things she could do sitting down,”
Vieczorek said.
Peggy also baked quiche, a dish
made primarily of eggs and milk or
cream in apastry crust, every morn-
ing to be sold at Java Cow Ice
Cream Café.
“We're going to miss her cooking,
that’sfor sure,” Vieczorek said. “She
was a very happy person. She
would do anything for anyone. She
just loved to be around people.”
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OBITUARIES
DeCINTI - John M. (Jack), 63,
of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. and
a former resident of Dallas and
Harveys Lake, died Friday, Sept.
19, 2008.
Born in Wilkes-Barre, he was a
graduate of G.A.R. Memorial
High School and attended the
former Wilkes College. He had
been employed as the sales man-
ager at Wilkes-Barre Wholesale
Company, Wilkes-Barre, and
manager of Cosmic Train and
Gallery Lounge of Edwardsville.
He was a member of the Moose
Lodge, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.
Surviving are his wife, the for-
mer Barbara A. Sabol; brother,
Fred, of Southlake, Texas; nieces
and nephews.
Memorial donations to the
American Cancer Society, 190
Welles St., Forty Fort, PA, 18704.
HIBBERT - Harry C., of Eaton
Terrace, Tunkhannock, died Sat-
urday, Sept. 27, 2008.
Born in Chicago, Ill. on Janu-
ary 20, 1915, he joined the Re-
serves after his high school grad-
uation and worked as an instruc-
tor for the ATF and FBI as a
sharpshooter expert. He retired
from the U.S. Coast Guard after
22 years of service and then went
to work as an engineer for Dielec-
tric in Raymond, Maine.
He was a member of the
Church of the Nativity BVM in
Tunkhannock.
Surviving are daughters, Ma-
ria Elena McKee, of Patchogue,
NY.; Cindy Hibbert, Nassau,
N.Y.; and Melissa Tucker, Bever-
ly, Mass.; four grandchildren and
eight great-grandchildren.
JOHNSON - Billie Beatrice,
97, of Dallas and formerly of
Downingtown, died on Tuesday,
Sept. 23, 2008.
Born in Springfield, Ark. on Ja-
nuary 16, 1911, she attended local
schools and beauty school. In
1930, she married Kenneth John-
son and, for over 30 years, they
traveled with the U.S. Navy. In the
1960s, they retired to Florida
where Billie became a realtor until
moving to Pennsylvania in 1997.
She was a lifelong member of
the Methodist Church, recently at-
tending Downingtown United
Methodist Church. She was a
member of the Eastern Star and
the National Officers’ Wives Asso-
ciation. She resided at Bellingham
Retirement and Simpson Mead-
ows Retirement Communities un-
til 2006 when she moved to The
Meadows Manor in Dallas.
Surviving are her daughter,
Sue J. Taylor, of Downingtown;
three grandchildren; six great-
grandchildren.
Memorial donations to Hos-
pice of the Sacred Heart, 600 Bal-
timore Dr., Wilkes-Barre, PA
18701, or The Meadows Manor,
200 Lake Dr., Dallas, PA 18612.
KUFFA - Reta, 84, of Tunkhan-
nock, died Wednesday, Sept. 24,
2008.
Born in Avery Station, Lemon
Township, she was a member of
the Nativity BVM. Church,
Tunkhannock, and its Altar and
Rosary Society. She was a 1941
graduate of Tunkhannock High
School.
Surviving are her daughters,
Barbara Dillon, Flushing, NY.;
Nancy Fisher, of Springville;
Joanne Kuffa of Wapwallopen; and
Debra Goble, of Tunkhannock;
sons, John A., of Dallas; and Da-
vid, of Tunkhannock; 15 grandchil-
dren; 16 great-grandchildren; sev-
eral nieces and nephews.
Memorial donations to Trigemi-
nal Neuralgia Assoc., (TNA) 925
NW 56th Terrace, Suite C., Gaines
ville, FL. 326056402 or Nativity
BV. M. Church, Tunkhannock.
PETROSKAS - Geraldine H.,
of Harveys Lake, died Wednes-
day, Sept. 24, 2008.
Born on August 30, 1919, she
was a graduate of Luzerne High
School. She studied nursing at
Margaret Haig School of Nurs-
ing, New Jersey and Nesbitt Hos-
pital in Kingston where she later
worked as a supervising nurse.
She worked for many years as the
project nurse for Bechtel Corpo-
ration at Mehoopany and Ber-
wick. She also assisted Dr. Ar-
thur Sherwood in private prac-
tice in Tunkhannock.
She was a member of Our Lady
of Victory Church at Harveys
Lake. She had served as a Euchar-
istic Minister and on numerous
church committees over the years.
Surviving are her daughter,
Peggy Cronin, of Harveys Lake;
two grandchildren; three great-
grandchildren.
Memorial contributions to
Mercy Center Personal Care and
Skilled Nursing Unit, Dallas, PA
18612.
PLUSHANSKI - Lois Roller, 81,
of Fieldcrest Drive, Tunkhan-
nock, died Thursday, Sept. 25,
2008.
Born in Somerville, N.J. on
May 26, 1927, she was a 1945
graduate of Somerville High
School and then graduated from
Somerset Nursing School. She
was a member of the Tunkhan-
nock Presbyterian Church.
Surviving are her husband,
Henry; son, Gary, Chicago, Ill;
daughters, Carol Garnecki and
Dawn Risley, both of Tunkhan-
nock; sister, Carol Carver, of Mor-
ris Plains, N.J.; three grandchil-
dren; five great-grandchildren; sev-
eral nieces and nephews.
NAYLOR - Leroy J. Jr., 70, for-
merly of Luzerne and Dallas,
died Friday, Sept. 26, 2008.
Born November 22, 1937, he
was a 1955 graduate of Luzerne
High School. He was a veteran of
the U.S. Army. Prior to retiring in
1993, he was the owner of Home-
Brite Rug Co. in Kingston.
Surviving are sons, Leroy J. III,
West Wyoming; Kevin, Pittston;
four grandchildren; two great-
grandchildren; and brother,
James, Geneva, Fla.
VALENTINE - William A., 77,
of Tunkhannock, died on Sun-
day, Sept. 28, 2008.
Born on December 19, 1930 in
Tunkhannock, he was a graduate
of Tunkhannock Area High
School. Upon graduation, he en-
listed in the United States Air
Force, serving in Colorado and
abroad in England.
After returning home from En-
gland, he worked for Sikorski Air-
craft in Connecticut, then with
American Housing in Allentown.
He was a 40-year member of Local
Labor No.130 of Scranton.
Surviving are his wife, Mary
A.; children, Bill, of Scranton;
and Cindy Marcy, of Tunkhan-
nock; two grandchildren; a broth-
er, Robert, of Florida; a sister; Be-
tty, of Tunkhannock; several
nieces and nephews.
Memorial donations to the
Russell U. M. C. c/o Peggy Ells-
worth, 2 Lemon Creek Rd.
Meshoppen, or Mehoopany Am-
bulance, Mehoopany.
WEAVER - Timothy M., 47, of
Dallas, died Tuesday, Sept. 23,
2008.
Born in Dover, N.J., he was a car-
penter by trade and worked for
various contractors in the area.
Surviving are his parents, Jen-
nie Condon Weaver and Harry
Weaver; brother, Harry, Center
Valley; sister, Cathy Reeder,
Sweet Valley; step-mother, Mary
Weaver; step-brother, Robert
Knowles, East Greenville; step-
sister, Betty Jean Ramick, Qua-
kertown; nieces and nephews.
ZURINSKI - Frank W., 74, of
Harveys Lake, died Friday, Sept.
26, 2008.
Born in Luzerne, he attended
Luzerne Schools. He was in the
U.S. Army, stationed in Germany,
and was discharged with 100 per-
cent disability. He was a member
of Our Lady of Victory Church,
Harveys Lake and a lifetime mem-
ber of the D.AV. and the NR.A.
Surviving is his wife, the for-
mer Marian Maceiko; children,
Debbie Jones, of Riverview Fla.;
Mark, of Clark Summit; Judy, of
Erie; two grandchildren; sisters,
Susan Stolarick, of Lehman; and
Eva Katchick, of Whitehall, N.J.
TAKING PATIENT CARE
TO EXCITING NEW HEIGHTS
RIGHT HERE IN NORTHEAST PA
GEISINGER
NORTHEAST
REDEFINING BOUNDARIES’
INTRODUCING GEISINGER NORTHEAST:
A NEW VISION FOR NORTHEAST PA
Offering you the most sophisticated care. It's what Geisinger is all about. That's why we've taken steps
to better serve your changing healthcare needs.
At Geisinger Wyoming Valley, we've brought together our critical care services in one comprehensive
facility. ..a 178,000 square-foot medical tower to offer you the highest level of care. Here, we've
combined the latest technological breakthroughs with unparalleled patient comfort and convenience.
This beautiful facility features state-of-the-art surgical suites with innovations that support future
surgical techniques. Our newly expanded emergency department-—complete with rooftop helipad—is
designed to meet the demanding critical care needs of the 21st century. And we will continue to
provide the region's most highly specialized services, including neurosurgery, a brain tumor institute,
heart surgery, transplant, cancer and more.
REINTRODUCING GEISINGER
SOUTH WILKES-BARRE
To further meet our patients’ changing needs, Geisinger South Wilkes-Barre is now a highly specialized
short-stay and same-day healthcare facility. Here, physicians perform the most advanced minimally
invasive surgeries and procedures. ..including pinpoint accurate robotic surgeries. Geisinger South
Wilkes-Barre is also home to the region's only pediatric urgent care center, sleep disorders and pain
therapy centers. And, we will continue to offer the high-quality healthcare residents have come to
expect...including inpatient medical/surgical and critical care beds and a full-service, 24/7 emergency
department.
It's an exciting time for healthcare in this region. To learn more about how Geisinger is changing for you,
visit www.geisinger.org/ne.