Skip to content
Obituaries

William Smaltz | Harley dealer, 68

    Published 

William "Stretch" Smaltz, 68, of Honey Brook, a Harley-Davidson dealership owner, died of cancer Friday at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center.

Mr. Smaltz graduated from West Philadelphia Catholic High School and served in the Coast Guard.

After his discharge, he was a truck driver and later a transportation dispatcher for Philadelphia Electric Co. He retired in 1990.

Three years later, Mr. Smaltz bought the Harley-Davidson dealership in Eagle with his wife, Karen Harwick Smaltz.

He rode his Harley to dealership meetings all over the country. For 17 years he rode with more than 4,000 other motorcyclists in the annual Philadelphia Ride for Freedom he helped organize to support POWs and MIAs. In October 2006, he organized a ride to benefit the victims of the Amish schoolhouse shootings in Nickel Mines. Approximately $42,000 was raised, his family said. He was past president of the Eastern Harley-Davidson Dealer Association

Mr. Smaltz enjoyed riding horses on his 15-acre ranch and was active with rescue programs for neglected horses. He wanted to be a cowboy since he met Roy Rogers at a rodeo when he was 9, said his sister, Carole Smaltz-Panuccio.

In addition to his wife and sister, he is survived by his mother, Marie Smaltz; a daughter, Kelly; and another sister.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. today at St. Peter Church, 2835 Manor Rd., West Brandywine. Friends may call from 8:30 a.m. Burial will be in Wentz Church Cemetery, Worcester.