Saxonburg honors resident for upcoming 100th birthday
SAXONBURG — If it happened in Saxonburg over the past century, there’s a good chance Shirley H. Pitlock could tell you about it.
At the monthly borough council meeting Tuesday night, Aug. 18, Saxonburg Mayor Dave Johnston officially honored Pitlock upon the occasion of her approaching her 100th birthday on Sept. 11. For the occasion, Aug. 18 was officially designated “Shirley Hutzler Pitlock Day.”
State Rep. Marci Mustello, R-11th, was on hand to honor her as well.
“I’m very honored and humbled, and I thank you so much. Everybody has made my 100th birthday very special,” Pitlock said. “There’s been a lot of changes. I can remember when we had, like, 250 people in town. Now there’s, what, 2,500 here?”
Pitlock’s family had a prominent place in Saxonburg’s history in the early 20th century. Her grandfather owned a grocery store in the borough, while her father served as president of the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company and was on the South Butler, as it was known at the time, school board.
As for Pitlock, she attended grade school at a two-story building, which was on the same site on Main Street where the borough’s municipal building is today, and she worked at the Moonlight Mushroom mine for 40 years.
One notable memory Pitlock shared was winning a brand-new Ford at the Saxonburg Fireman’s Carnival in 1948.
