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John Mizerock remembered as businessman, helper, character |
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Local Content -
Local News
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Written by Tom Chapin
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Friday, 24 April 2009 |
PUNXSUTAWNEY — People called him "Big John," or "Mr. Rock," but whatever the nickname he was going by on any given day, people remember John J. Mizerock Jr. as a giving man ... and a character.
"What John was, was a character," said George Senott, who grew up across the street from Mizerock in Rossiter. "He was something. I always teased him, I said, ‘You're 173.' He lived 73 years more than 90 percent of people could live in 100 years."
Mizerock, the Rossiter native known in the area as a businessman and a driving force behind the F.O. Eagles and the Italian Sons & Daughters of America Lodge 17, died Thursday morning at Mulberry Square Elder Care & Rehabilitation Center. He was 73.
According to his family, Mizerock had many special qualities from an early age, especially in sports.
At age 13, he was a catcher in the JC League for the Rossiter Miners. His family said he was very aggressive, and the older players in the league always wanted to test him sliding into home plate.
"It only had to happen once, and they didn't need to test him again," they said.
At Punxsutawney High School, Mizerock won two letters in football, and made the all-district team. He also held three letters in track and made the state tournament. He also held the school record for the shot put for several years.
After high school, Mizerock was signed by the Detroit Tigers and played minor league baseball for the Tigers and the Baltimore Orioles.
He then enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was stationed at Bainbridge Naval base. While at Bainbridge, he played football, and was the captain of both the offense and defense, and was its kicker.
In 1956, Mizerock was catching Johnny Podres, who was also playing for Bainbridge, the year after Podres won MVP at the 1955 World Series, beating the Yankees.
Mizerock also received football scholarships to University of Hutchinson in Kansas and the University of Georgia.
He is among the nominees for the Punxsutawney Sports Hall of Fame.
Closer to home, Mizerock's daughter, Tracy Mizerock, explained that her father recently sold Penn Arms, a firm located at the corner of North Findley and Pine Streets, after owning it for about 10 years. The company manufactured grenade launchers for law enforcement and the military.
He was also the former owner of the Punxsy Hotel, having purchased the business in 1967 before selling it in 1977 to his brother-in-law, Kenny Neal — who married Mizerock's sister, Toie.
"It was good," Kenny Neal said. "He taught me the ropes."
Mizerock was also a long-time member and officer for the ISDA, of which he served as president before turning the office over to Senott, who had also served as secretary.
Mizerock's daughter said her dad had been a member of the ISDA "since the day he was born. My grandfather joined him that day."
Senott explained that older members of the ISDA originally met at a former location in the West End, until meeting at the former YMCA building, which Mizerock owned.
After securing a liquor license, the lodge expanded into what it is today, still in the former YMCA building.
Mizerock was also a former president and secretary of the F.O. Eagles, the club which now houses the huge glockenspiel clock that Tracy Mizerock said her father wanted for some time.
"I think he was on vacation, in Austria, and somehow he got that idea," she said. "That was his big thing. He couldn't wait to raise enough money for it."
She said her father's dream, however, was Timberstone, a recreational area near Rochester Mills, and his home.
"That was his dream," Tracy Mizerock said. "His whole life, he wanted a log house. He built that and went overboard."
She said for about the last 10 years, Mizerock enjoyed going home and getting on his tractor to perform maintenance at Timberstone with a backhoe and excavator.
"That turned him from a businessman to a country boy," Tracy Mizerock said. "But the first day they taught him to drive the backhoe, he backed into the pavilion. He had to just stay in the field after that."
Senott said Mizerock had the ability to turn whatever he touched into gold.
"He was an organizer," he said. "He could get anybody to do anything for him. He just made the Eagles into one of the nicest in the country."
On top of everything else that kept him busy, Mizerock was someone who was willing to help someone who needed it.
"John had a kind heart and was very generous to people in need," his family said. "He held a Christmas party every year for the Amish children in the Rochester Mills and Trade City area.
"Most of his generosity was unknown to anyone, but himself and the person he helped," they said. "He had a zest for life and will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved him."
"John was very good-hearted," Senott said. "He helped so many people and never wanted any credit. Just like at our church, they would have dinners and stuff, and he would say, ‘What do you think?' Let's pick up the tab."
In recent weeks, Mizerock wanted to make sure that a $1,000 donation from the ISDA to the Rossiter Playground Association found its way into the proper hands. The donation was made Wednesday.
After meeting at The Spirit regarding the donation, Senott, fellow ISDA trustee John Mack and others traveled to Mulberry Square to tell Mizerock that the donation had been made.
"Wasn't that amazing that we were in there?" Senott said Thursday. "He was sleeping, and then ... We didn't want to wake him up."
Arrangements are under the direction of the Deeley Funeral Home, Punxsutawney.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 25 April 2009 )
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