Francis McHale, Peco lineman and supervisor
Francis J. McHale didn't just spend his Peco career up an electric pole or supervising those who did. From the 1980s into the 2000s, he was one of the organizers of the Sauerkraut Supper, which drew current and retired Peco linemen every October to the Columbia Social Club in Port Richmond.
Francis J. McHale didn't just spend his Peco career up an electric pole or supervising those who did.
From the 1980s into the 2000s, he was one of the organizers of the Sauerkraut Supper, which drew current and retired Peco linemen every October to the Columbia Social Club in Port Richmond.
It was a pork-and-sauerkraut dinner, and it benefited St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, said Mike Andrews, a Peco lineman who worked with Mr. McHale for 20 years.
Over the years, Andrews said, "he was involved with a lot of charity work."
On Sunday, Jan. 3, Mr. McHale, 68, of Maple Shade, who ended a 45-year Peco career in December 2014 as a foreman for linemen, died of cancer at home.
"We worked out of J and Luzerne," from the Peco office there, Andrews said, "but we worked the whole city." And beyond.
"It's called Going Off System," Andrews said, and with Mr. McHale, "I worked in North Carolina, on storm restoration work in the 1990s, for at least two weeks."
Helping local utilities get back online, Andrews said, Mr. McHale did dangerous work in Chicago and upstate New York.
And Mr. McHale's daughter, Elaine, said that in the late 1980s or early 1990s, "he went up to Maine, for a bad ice storm," and lived out of a hotel - without lights when his Peco crew arrived - "for at least a month."
In bad weather, she said, "it was unusual if he did not have to travel."
Mr. McHale grew up in Kensington, graduated from North Catholic High School in 1966, and was an Army electrician during his assignment in South Korea. He lived in the Juniata neighborhood for much of his career.
He joined Philadelphia Electric Co. in December 1969, and often taught lineman classes run by the utility.
And, said his daughter, he was known for organizing fund-raising walks for Deborah Heart and Lung Center in Browns Mills.
He was an honor guard member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Division 51, in Fishtown, which he helped organize in the 2000s, and a member of the American Legion post in Juniata since the 1970s.
Besides his daughter, Mr. McHale is survived by his wife of 45 years, Wilma; sons Francis W. and Timothy; three sisters; and five grandchildren.
Viewings and life celebrations were set from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, and 9 to 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 7, both at Inglesby/Givnish, 600 E. Main St., Maple Shade, before an 11 a.m. Funeral Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 236 E. Main St., Maple Shade.
Donations may be sent to the Veterans Multi-Service Center, 213 N. Fourth St., Philadelphia 19106, or to www.vmcenter.org.
Condolences may be offered to the family at www.givnishfuneralhome.com.
610-313-8134 @WNaedele