With Father’s Day Sunday, local officials share their “words of
wisdom” and best advice passed onto them by their own fathers.

U.S. Rep. John Peterson, R-Pa., began with a little background
on his father, Axel Benjamin Peterson, who had an eighth-grade
education and worked as a steelworker. Peterson’s father died in
1982.

“My dad was strict at times, but he was the most caring, decent
and honest man I’ve ever met,” Peterson said. “We didn’t have a
whole lot growing up, but he always wanted the best for us, and was
willing to work around the clock doing some of the hardest jobs
around so that we could have it.

“The best advice he ever gave me was to pursue a career that
would allow me to interact with people. I never planned on being in
government – I wanted to be a welder, and I think I could’ve been
good at that. But, as a steelworker himself, he thought that my
talents would be better served in the people business. So I worked
in retail and over time saved up enough money to buy a small
independent super market. That’s how I got my start, and, though it
hasn’t always been easy, I couldn’t have gotten where I am today
without my dad’s wisdom and inspiration.”

State Sen. Joe Scarnati III, R-Brockway, said he and his father,
Joseph Scarnati Jr., had a unique father-son relationship.

“I had a great opportunity to be a father’s partner for 20
years,” Scarnati said, citing working in business along with his
father and owning a restaurant with him. “He gave me a ton of
advice, but I think the best advice he ever gave me was don’t ever
forget where you come from, which rings truer today in the job that
I’m in. I live by that in all my decisions.”

State Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, said his father, former
McKean County Commissioner Tom Causer, has given him good advice
and continues to give him a lot of good advice.

“I think the best advice he gave me was to work hard and prepare
myself for opportunities that will certainly present themselves,”
Causer said. “People are not always prepared for (the
opportunities) when they come.”

McKean County Commissioner Cliff Lane said his father, Clifford
G. Lane, gave him a lot of advice.

“Probably one of his biggest advice he gave me was to treat
people as you would want to be treated,” Lane said. “Another was
don’t believe everything you read in the newspaper.”

McKean County Commissioner John Egbert said his father, John L.
Egbert, spoke in parables and gave him one line he remembers and
uses or paraphrases often.

“He said, ‘If business was easy, John, everybody’d be in it,'”
Egbert said. “I used that kind of line back when I was at McCourt
(Label Co.). When someone was having a hard time (doing something),
I’d say, ‘If it was easy, anybody could do it.'”

McKean County Judge John Cleland said his father, Dr. Charles
“Chuck” E. Cleland, gave him advice through illustration or
personal example that frequently involved people.

Cleland said his father would explain that people are
individuals and shouldn’t be labeled, such as labeling people as
Jews, fascists, Communists or terrorists, and made into an object
to justify doing anything one wants to them. His father told him to
“remember that people are people and not objects.”

McKean County Judge John “Jack” Yoder said what sticks out most
in his mind more than advice is the example his father, John Yoder
Sr., set for him.

“It was by his example that I learned you should never give up,”
Yoder said. “He (Yoder’s father) was very seriously injured when he
was in the Armed Services, and he had a tremendous recovery and
went on to work 40 years in an oil refinery.”

District Attorney John Pavlock said the best advice given to him
by his father, Henry Pavlock Jr., was to work hard.

“Probably, always work hard and finish what you’ve started,”
Pavlock said.

Bradford City Councilman Bob Onuffer said his father, Paul A.
Onuffer, had to give him a lot of advice but recalled the best
advice his father gave him was how to treat other people.

“He’d say if you wanted to be treated a certain way, try to
treat other people the same way,” Onuffer said, adding this was one
thing that a lot of parents don’t teach or have the desire to teach
their children today.

Sandra Romanowski, superintendent of the Bradford Area School
District, said her father, Bill Tarolli, gave her a lot of advice,
but she named a few that were important to her.

“He taught me the importance of working hard,” Romanowski said.
“He also said, ‘Don’t expect others to do more than you’re willing
to do yourself. If you expect 100 percent from others, then expect
to give 110 yourself.'”

Foster Township Supervisor Chairman Robert Slike Jr. said his
father, Robert Slike Sr., gave him a lot of advice over the years
but had a few that he remembered specifically.

“He said ‘Keep your credit in good shape,’ and ‘If troubles face
you, meet it head on,'” Slike said. “He also said, ‘Always keep
your property up.'”

Slike said he has trouble sometimes keeping up with his
property, but his father would paint the house if it needed
painting and so forth. Both he and his father would pay credit back
quickly, he added.