MOUNT CARMEL - The borough has lost a longtime businessman and community champion.
Anthony V. "Red" Miscavige Jr., 87, of 328 W. Third St., well-known for his downtown insurance business and his many civic endeavors, died Sunday at Mount Carmel Senior Living Community.
Miscavige, a Mount Carmel native, was fiercely proud of his coal region roots, and just this spring posed for a photograph holding his "Camptown College" sign in Town Park. While it's a fictional institution, the "education" he got growing up in the Camptown neighborhood at the north end of Mount Carmel in the 1920s and '30s served him well, Miscavige said at the time.
He remained active in his retirement, including as a volunteer at Mount Carmel Junior-Senior High School, where, among other duties, he compiled information on alumni who had contributed large sums of money toward scholarships and community projects.
An independent insurance agent in Mount Carmel for more than 65 years before retirement in 2005, Miscavige was active in numerous community organizations.
Mount Carmel Borough Mayor J. Kevin Jones is proclaiming Thursday - the day of Miscavige's funeral - a day of mourning for "the loss of this community leader."
"Red Miscavige was a long time borough businessman, community activists, civic leader and a devoted member of the Mount Carmel Lions Club on top of being a great family man and neighbor to many people," said Jones. "He will be greatly missed."
He was active everywhere, even at his age, said Jones.
"He was also devoted to the Polish culture. We couldn't even make a joke about it around him," said Jones.
Full obituary, Page A7.