Locke

David Hollis Locke, 97, of Scott Township, Lawrence County, died at 6:43 a.m. Wednesday at Jameson Memorial Hospital, New Castle.

Born on the family homestead in Lawrence County, Aug. 19, 1910, he was the son of Samuel Audley Locke I and Elizabeth Mae Pizor Locke.

He was a fifth generation descendant of one of the earliest families to settle in Scott Township. His great-great grandfather, American Revolutionary soldier William Locke, settled there in 1794 through a land grant received from his status as a Revolutionary soldier. The initial grant in Chartiers Valley was immediately exchanged for the current homestead, which has been held by the Locke family ever since. The property, in what was then Mercer County, was partitioned off into the newly created Lawrence County in 1884. It is on this property that Mr. Locke and four preceding generations of Lockes have lived.

He was a lifetime member of the Plain Grove Presbyterian Church, in Plain Grove Township, Lawrence County.

Mr. Locke, a 1928 graduate of New Castle High School, attended Tri-State University in Angola, Ind. He had been a mechanical engineer and worked at Aetna Standard of Ellwood City until his retirement in 1976. In addition to his engineering work at the Ellwood City office, he worked at job sites on four continents, where he supervised the installation of steel processing lines by doing on-site engineering, consulting and troubleshooting.

Following his retirement, he worked on two consulting assignments on behalf of Aetna, traveling to Bibao and Gijón in Spain.

He was a member of the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the Revolution-Anthony Wayne Chapter; the F&AM Lodge of New Castle, where he was a 32nd-degree Mason; the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite Valley of New Castle; the Liberty Grange 1780, Scott Township; and the Century Club, Butler.

He and his wife enjoyed ice dancing and ballroom dancing. Along with his business travel, they had visited 26 countries.

Surviving are his wife, Lillian Sara Bicker Locke, whom he married July 5, 1941; a son, Samuel Audley Locke II and his wife, Nancy J., of New Castle; and a grandson, Samuel Audley Locke III.

He was preceded in death by three sisters, Wilda Emery, Jean McCracken and Eleanor Brooks.

<B>LOCKE </B>— Friends of David Hollis Locke, who died Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007, will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the <B>Smith Funeral Home</B>, 421 New Castle Road, Slippery Rock. Visitation also will be from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday at the Plain Grove Presbyterian Church, Plain Grove Township, where services will follow at 11 a.m. with the Rev. Herb Goetz officiating.Burial will be at the South Plain Grove Cemetery, Plain Grove Township.