John Salopek
John Frank Salopek, 93, of Butler, passed away Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, at his residence at Newhaven Court at Clearview in Butler.
Born March 24, 1932, in Duquesne, Pa., he was a son of the late Frank and Barbara Salopek, first-generation Croatian immigrants. John was the youngest of nine children.
John was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 52 years, Betty; and by his eight siblings, Joseph, Michael, Matthew, Thomas, Anthony, Mary, Amanda and Agnes.
After graduation from Duquesne High School in 1950, John worked for Carnegie Steel Company and Union Railroad before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force in 1952. John was an aircraft sheet metal repair technician during his four years of service in the Air Force.
In July of 1955, a year before being honorably discharged from the Air Force, John married Betty Ann Filetic, of Butler. The couple settled in Butler.
John was employed by Pullman-Standard, Heasley’s Nurseries, International Staple & Machine Company and the Boyers mine before beginning his 29-year career as an HVAC technician at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Butler. He retired from the VA Hospital in 1998.
During the early years of John’s marriage, he built the couple’s first home on Moore Road in Butler. John’s brother, Joe, helped to dig the home’s foundation while John studied Popular Mechanics magazines for construction guidance. It took four years for John, working nights, weekends and vacations, to complete the couple’s beautiful ranch home. John was a lifelong DIY guy who could build anything and repair anything.
John and Betty remained in love and happily married for 52 years until Betty’s death in 2007. John and Betty loved all animals, especially their own cocker spaniels. Both were faithful members of St. Paul Roman Catholic Church in Butler.
Before becoming a resident of Newhaven Court at Clearview, you could find John having breakfast every morning at the McDonald’s restaurant in Butler Commons with his retired buddies. He loved carrying his iPad with him wherever he went, to take new photos and to share those already taken. Taking photos became a serious hobby, lasting through his residency at Newhaven Court.
John is survived by three sisters-in-law, Jane Filetic, Cathy Keefer and her son, Jon, and Sally Mocker (Herbert) and her daughter, Debby, all of California. John is also survived by many nieces and nephews including Nancy Bowers, of Butler, Michael Salopek (Denise), of Waterloo, S.C., and Joanne Moscarello, of Chandler, Ariz.
John’s family expresses their sincere gratitude to two groups of special people: the staff and residents of Newhaven Court at Clearview who provided care, support and friendship during John’s seven years of residency there and the Lutheran Senior Life VNA Hospice team led by John’s hospice nurse, Lori Lewis.
SALOPEK — A Mass of Christian burial for John Frank Salopek, who died Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2025, will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, at All Saints Parish, St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, 128 N. McKean St., Butler, with the Rev. John J. Baver officiating. All are welcome to attend.
Burial will take place in Calvary Cemetery, Butler.
For those unable to attend, the funeral Mass on Saturday will be livestreamed at 10 a.m. via www.hvproductions.net/live.
In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of John Salopek may be made to the Butler County Humane Society, 1015 Evans City Road, Renfrew, PA 16053; or All Saints Parish, St. Paul Roman Catholic Church, 128 N. McKean St., Butler, PA 16001; or Lutheran Senior Life VNA Hospice, 154 Hindman Road, Butler, PA 16001.
Arrangements were entrusted to the care of MARTIN FUNERAL HOME DOWNTOWN, 201 E. Cunningham St., Butler.
For more information, please visit www.martinfh.net.
Please sign the guest book at www.butlereagle.com.
