There will be an empty seat at the dinner table the next time the Hall Boys get together.
Richard “Dick” Yoder, former two-term mayor of West Chester and a stalwart member of the West Chester University administration, who spent his career promoting the town he was born in and the institution of higher learning he loved, died Tuesday. He was 79.
Yoder had been admitted to the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia over the weekend with a bacterial infection that led to a stroke that ultimately proved fatal, according to his daughter, Susan Schick.
Yoder’s friend and fellow mayor, Tom Chambers, remembered him Wednesday as a champion of the borough, and a man committed to service in the community.
“As a West Chester citizen, he was truly remarkable, caring and supporting his fellow citizens and culminating with his election to two terms as the town’s Mayor, a post that he earned and richly deserved,” Chamber said in a statement to the Daily Local News. “And he didn’t disappoint.”
But Chambers also recalled the role that Yoder played as a member of an informal group of West Chester men of a certain age – including Chambers, Alvy Kelly, Jerry Schneider, Fred Gusz, Dave Patten, and Jack Mosteller – who over the past several years gathered once a month to share dinner and stories of the past, calling themselves the Hall Boys after one of their friends, former West Chester businessman Dale Hall, who died earlier.
In April, the last time the group was together, they stopped in at an Italian restaurant on West Chester Pike for a meal. “We just had a great time,” said Chambers. “Seven or eight of us, bringing back all sorts of memories.”
Yoder’s passing will leave a void not only at that monthly gathering, but also in the greater world of West Chester, whose growth in stature Yoder sought over the length of his career, both inside and outside of the public domain, those who knew him said.
“A light has really gone out in our community,” said Matt Holliday, a graduate of West Chester University who said that Yoder proved a mentor to him as a young adult learning about government life in the borough. “A lot of folks will have to step up to fill his shoes to keep it as brightly lit as it had been while he was with us.”
“He was tremendous,” said Holliday, now the Chester County protonotary.
A life-long Republican, Yoder did not stop at party lines when it came to sharing his advice with those who came after him in public service, so long as they were committed to serving the interests of the West Chester community.
“When I was thinking of running for mayor I met with him regularly at Gramm’s Kitchen,” said Mayor Carolyn Comitta, a Democrat, in a statement issued after his death. “We would have lunch and I would ask what it was like to be mayor, what makes a good mayor. He was always generous with his time,”
“After I was elected, I continued to have lunch with him regularly,” she said, adding, “I continued to learn.”
U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello, R-6th, of West Goshen, issued a statement on Yoder’s passing, recalling the role he played in shaping the lives of student at the college when he served first as a football coach and later as Athletic Director.
“Christine and I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to Mayor Yoder’s family and hope that they can find some comfort knowing just how much the entire community respected and admired his lifetime of dedicated service to West Chester, “Costello said. “He was a football coach who prepared his players to succeed not only on game day, but long after they left the field.
“And he was a public servant with a passion for solving problems and transforming West Chester into one of Chester County’s best places to live and work,” Costello added. “Dick’s enthusiasm for working with young adults was evident during the past year while he served as a member of my Service Academy Board, volunteering countless hours to interview young men and women vying for coveted nominations to one of our country’s military academies. His extensive knowledge about all things West Chester and tireless work ethic will truly be missed.”
West Chester Police Chief Scott Bohn, who served under Yoder during his eight years as mayor, spoke of his “distinguished life and career.
“He was a great husband, father, grandfather, educator, coach, administrator, member and leader in our community,” Bohn said. “His life had a measurable impact on so many. Simply put, he was a very good man. I will miss him.”
In his recollections, Chambers said his friend embodied the borough he had been born and raised in.
“To sum up what I think about Dick Yoder, and what I am sure so many of his friends and acquaintances who knew him well thought of Dick, he was West Chester through and through, a guy who loved his community and served it so well.”
Funeral arrangements are pending with the Logan Funeral Home in Exton.
