As we look back on 2023, we remember those we lost.

The year brought sadness throughout the region in the form of deaths, and, in addition to the losses our readers and their families may have sustained, there were several passings of people who played prominent roles in our region. The list is long, but we remember a few for their contributions.

In September, we here at the Times News lost a great colleague who rose to the top of his profession as a newsman, publisher and Pulitzer Prize nominee.

Noted newsman passes

Bruce Frassinelli, a distinguished journalist, educator, and proud native of Summit Hill, died in his North Whitehall Township home at the age of 84.

A retired editor of the Easton Express-Times and Palladium-Times in Oswego, New York, Frassinelli spent his most recent years as a columnist for the Times News, where he was a government watchdog who had a tremendous talent of giving our readers a glimpse into growing up in a coal mining town while often injecting humor in columns.

During his 25-and-a half-years at the Express-Times, Frassinelli and his colleagues were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for their series of articles titled “Rape of the Poconos.” The series exposed abuses in the vacation-home industry, leading to corrective Congressional legislation.

Ex-D & L president

The region lost one of its longtime civic leaders who played a significant role in the promoting of tourism in our counties.

Elissa Garofalo, the retired president of the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor who had a knack for getting things done, lost a battle with cancer on Feb. 15.

Garofalo retired from the heritage corridor in 2021 after a 20-year career that included nine as president.

Among her accomplishments was overseeing the completion of the Mansion House Bridge across the Lehigh River in Jim Thorpe. The $4.1 million project helped connect D&L Trail users to downtown Jim Thorpe and closed the last remaining trail gaps in Carbon County.

Before her work with the heritage corridor, Garofalo managed one of the country’s first Main Street programs in Jim Thorpe from 1981-86. Her efforts helped the town’s main street, Broadway, to an American Planning Association designation as one of the Great Places of America in 2013.

She was also a founder of the Carbon County Chamber of Commerce; chair of the Leadership Carbon Steering Committee; and president of Carbon County Partners for Progress.

Public officials

Two elected public officials lost their lives in 2023, including Richard Szulborski of Bethlehem, who had been serving as the Northampton County Controller, and David Pollock, who had been filling an unexpired term on the Mahoning Township Board of Supervisors.

Szulborski passed away on June 30, and Pollock’s unexpected death came on Dec. 5.

The controller was actually in his second stint as the watchdog of Northampton County’s finances, and was in his second years on the job a second time when he passed.

In 2018, after Controller Stephen Barron resigned, Szulborski took over. He assumed the job the second time upon the 2012 death of Controller Tony Bassil.

He served three terms on the Bethlehem City Council.

Pollock was a former supervisor who was appointed to the unexpired term of Brian Reeser when the latter moved out of the township.

The board member was appointed in July to the empty seat, returning to it after previously serving for 3½ years.

Pollock was a lifetime member of Mahoning Valley Fire Company No. 1, having served as its chief from 1983-87, and again from 1996-2008.

Chamber leaders

Two people who played key roles in area chambers of commerce also passed away in 2023.

Michael A. Heery of Lehighton, the former president of the Carbon County Chamber of Commerce, passed away on Oct. 24, and Michael R. Harleman of Palmerton, another longtime Carbon Chamber board member, succumbed to cancer on Sept. 13.

Heery was also a past president of the Lehighton Rotary and the Jim Thorpe Area Chamber of Commerce, and a past board member of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance.

He had a love of model trains and managed a family-owned and operated HO model train display for over 25 years in the heart of historic Jim Thorpe.

His current job as a second grade teacher brought him much joy as he was able to work alongside his wife and brother. Heery was passionate about making a lasting impression on the lives of his students.

Harleman was the executive vice president of the First Northern Bank, Palmerton, who served on the Palmerton Hospital/Blue Mountain Health System’s board of directors, the boards of St. Luke’s Miners Hospital and the Carbon Chamber, the executive board of the Lehigh County Chamber of Commerce, and the board of Dream Come True. He also held the position of treasurer of the Salvation Army.

In a touching moment, the chamber, at its annual awards gala, posthumously presented its William H. Bayer Lifetime Achievement Award to Harleman, whose widow, Doreen, accepted it on his behalf.

Led Catholic diocese

Meanwhile, the Catholic church community mourned the passing of the third bishop of the Diocese of Allentown when His Excellency, Most Rev. Edward P. Cullen, passed away on May 9.

The Bishop Emeritus, a title he received in 2009, served the diocese from 1998 until his retirement in 2009. Previously, he was consecrated an Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1994, and appointed the Titular Bishop of Paria in Proconsolare.

Lawyer, banker

A late December passing (the 18th) called home Jane F. Engler, Esquire, who practiced law in Jim Thorpe for the past 40 years.

Engler was also a noted banker, having served on the board of the Jim Thorpe Neighborhood Bank and its predecessor, the Jim Thorpe National Bank. In recent years, she held the position of chairman of the board.

She was also the former solicitor for several entities, including the Carbon County Economic Development Corp., the Carbon County Register of Wills, Jim Thorpe School District, and the Carbon County Airport Authority, and also served as Chancellor of the Carbon County Bar Association.