Public servant impacted many

By MIKE FAHER

JOHNSTOWN — In 1964, a first-term state legislator from Dale Borough found himself in the middle of a contentious vote on unemployment compensation.

Facing intense pressure from those who opposed the bill – at one point, he needed police protection – Cecil Leberknight nonetheless offered a decisive vote in favor of an initiative that he believed would stabilize the state’s unemployment system.

“The best vote I ever cast,” he said many years later, “was the one that cost me my seat.”

For Leberknight – who died last week at age 94 – that legislative showdown was emblematic of the principles he lived by during a long career as a public servant.

The greater good of the general public, he believed, always came before personal advancement – even when the potential for personal sacrifice was great.

“He cared about people, and he cared about his community,” said Randall Rodkey, the longtime solicitor for Dale Borough.

Leberknight and the small community of Dale will be forever linked. He dedicated more than half of his life to serving the few thousand people who live in the borough’s 0.2 square miles.

Leberknight became a Dale councilman in 1948 and remained a member until retirement in 2003. When he retired, he had been serving the borough for roughly half its existence as an incorporated entity.

He spent 39 of those years as council’s president.

“It was community pride more than anything,” said his son, Tim Leberknight of Ferndale. “He was just fiercely proud of Dale Borough and the city of Johnstown, and he wanted to do his best.”

It was not an easy job.

Dale, like nearly all local municipalities, has been losing revenue and population for decades.

Two census counts tell the story: In 1950, two years after Leberknight took office, Dale had 3,310 residents. In 2000, three years before his retirement, there were 1,503 people remaining.

The loss of industrial jobs took a toll. There also was the construction of the Route 56 bypass, which cut a wide path through the borough.

“We lost 101 homes and 720 people,” Leberknight said in a 1998 interview with The Tribune-Democrat.

“That’s quite a blow to property tax and personal tax revenue.”

Then there was the 1977 flood, which took another 68 houses and damaged 200 others in Dale – including Leberknight’s residence.

Nonetheless, he remained a passionate advocate for Dale Borough.

“He did his best to run the borough efficiently, trying to keep taxes from being a burden,” Rodkey said. “Yet the demands on local government are constantly greater. It’s often a thankless job.”

Though his hometown kept him busy, Leberknight’s impact also reached well beyond the borough’s borders.

He was a Republican in a heavily Democratic district, but Leberknight won the state House 71st Legislative District seat and served in 1963-64.

That’s where the controversial unemployment vote occurred, with heavy opposition from labor unions.

Leberknight was asked to leave the House floor for his own protection, and state police were summoned to his home in Dale.

The freshman lawmaker was voted out of office later in 1964. But Leberknight earned laurels from the Republican party during his brief time in the Legislature and throughout his career, and GOP officials on Monday noted his passing.

“Cecil Leberknight was an outstanding state representative who worked tirelessly for the people of this region,” said Robert A. Gleason Jr., who chairs the Cambria County and state Republican committees.

“He was a tremendous asset to the Republican Party and supported us in every election.”

Though his time in state office was short, Leberknight’s influence spread across Pennsylvania in other ways. He was one of the original incorporators of the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, and he held leadership positions within that organization.

Courtney Accurti, an association spokeswoman, said Leberknight had been a mentor to “so many people” at the Harrisburg-based organization.

“He defined what it meant to be a servant-leader,” Accurti said. “He’s a guy who’s not going to be forgotten here anytime soon.”

That same sentiment could be expressed by local residents who have been involved in a long list of organizations.

Leberknight’s resume includes active involvement in sports, parent-teacher organizations, Scouting, Johns-

town Symphony Orchestra, Sandyvale Cemetery, Cambria County Housing Corp. and Johnstown Regional Planning Commission.

Leberknight also was a leader of Johnstown Flood Museum Association – later Johnstown Area Heritage Association – during a time when the organization was undertaking a big museum renovation and marking the 1889 flood’s centennial.

“He helped see us through a critical period,” said Richard Burkert, the heritage association’s executive director.

“He’s a man who spent basically his entire life in public service.”

Leberknight still found time, however, for his family. He and his wife, Dorothy – who were married for

67 years – raised five children.

“We had a profound respect for him,” Tim Leberknight said, while adding that family members understood that the elder Leberknight’s work would keep him away from home at times.

That was true even on the night of the 1977 flood, when Leberknight was separated from his wife and children because he was trying to assist other residents as water rushed through the borough.

“My dad was helping other people,” Leberknight’s son said. “That’s just basically the type of person he was.”

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