Photo by Joseph Bell

Ronald T. Beimel currently serves as one of three Elk County commissioners.

By Joseph Bell

Record Staff Writer

Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series featuring Elk County commissioner Ronald T. Beimel. The second part of this series will be featured in the Tuesday, Dec. 29 edition.

For Elk County commissioner Ronald T. Beimel, being involved in politics was a way for the Kersey resident to make the most of his life and give back to his fellow man.
"With running for any office, I've always said that when I leave this world, there's no coming back," Beimel said. "I've always felt that being involved in politics or community service, you're dealing with people and helping people along the way.
"That's sort of a philosophy of my mom and dad always telling me to do the best that I can, help as many people as you can because when you leave this world, you're not coming back. Being involved in politics is an area that you can do that, you can actually, honest to goodness, really help some people out there. That's why I really got involved in politics, to help people. To this day, it's the same, I want to help people."

Born March 3, 1938 in St. Marys to Maynard and Ruth Beimel, the current county commissioner was the fifth of nine sons.
"When I was 2 years old, we moved from St. Marys to Kersey and four of my siblings were born in Kersey," said Beimel, who grew up in Kersey. "Growing up in a big family and being poor, when you look at being poor, my dad worked in a factory and my mom was of course a stay-at-home mom with nine kids.
"My father was very strict and I can say that with nine boys, there was never one of those nine boys in any trouble. He was just a little guy, about five feet six inches tall but all he had to do was raise his voice."
Beimel recalls his mother being the compassionate one in the family.
"She made us get up and go to church every Sunday and we were raised in theCatholic church," Beimel said. "She was the anchor in our family, kept God in our lives and made sure that what we did was the right thing to do.
"The community I grew up in, when you have nine boys, we'd be all over the small town of Kersey and I remember my mom used to call for us for dinner, she'd holler from the back door, call us all by name and the one thing you never missed was dinner."

As time has gone by, Beimel still remembers an old bedtime ritual as if it were yesterday.
"There wasn't a night that I went to bed that I didn't give my father and mother a kiss and a hug," Beimel said. "And with all my brothers, we'd all do the same thing, stand in line to give my mom and dad a hug, and then off to bed we'd go.
"Even if we were disciplined, and we're all this way today, if you talk to anybody out there today, we are the 'hugging Beimels,' we love to do the hug thing and show our affection and passion towards other people."
Growing up in a large family, Beimel also remembers his father being a great provider despite being poor.
"When you were poor, you weren't really poor as you had your food, your clothing, your shelter, so that was good," Beimel said. "My dad was a great provider and he provided us with all of the things that we needed in life.
"There were people that were well-to-do and had the things but my dad never envied anybody. Myself personally, I've never met a person that I didn't like. Now there are some people that I didn't want to associate with because of where they would lead you but I've never ever, and still to this day, even in politics, on the opposite ends of how they feel about politics and people, I never met anybody that I didn't like."

A 1956 Kersey High School graduate, Beimel was active in baseball and basketball, and also was adamantly involved with politics at an early age as he became class president and was a student council member.
"My mother and father always voted, they always said that you had a duty and that voting was so important," said Beimel, who attended Clarion University of Pennsylvania after high school. "I spent two years there and at that time, I was in the Pennsylvania National Guard and after the two years, I joined the Marine Corps.
"I either had to move to the Army or the Marines, so I went to the Marine Corps and was in communications."

After spending four years in the Marine Corps, Beimel went to California and went to work in 1961 as a private investigator for Retail Credit, which today is Equifax.
"Shortly after that, about a year or so, I went into the insurance business," Beimel said. "To this day, I'm still in the insurance business although I'm not actively involved, I've held my license since 1965.
"I came back to Pennsylvania because of course, when you leave, your roots are always with you and it's hard to get Kersey out of you, and Elk County. I came back and opened a small gas station in Kersey, the first 24-hour station in the county. We sold milk and bread and gas."

In 1971, Beimel entered the political arena as he successfully ran for county auditor.
"Three years later, I ran for U.S. Congress," Beimel said. "I lost that democrat primary by 1,500 votes.
"My brother and I were the only campaign people in that, we ran the campaign ourselves and spent about $200."
However, Beimel quickly moved on as he ran for county commissioner and was the top vote-getter at the time.
"My wife and I went door to door throughout the county and we were fortunate enough to win and to represent Elk County," Beimel said. "I was a county auditor so I had an idea of what was going on in the county and some changes that I thought should be involved, the tax base and the human services end of it.
"I thought I could make a difference."
With regard to his first term as a county commissioner, Beimel recalls it being the "roughest period of time" that he has ever spent in politics.
"We had a county commissioner and you have another elected official that was serving with me that was just a constant battle everyday," Beimel said. "It wasn't about taking care of the county business, it was about people, two individuals who were elected officials and one was after the other.
"I happened to be the chairman and I was caught between a couple people, elected officials, and being a young politician in that, they were able to use me to their end. I learned a lot."

During his first term as a county commissioner, Beimel said the three leaders were not one cohesive unit.
"I remember a newspaper article that called it a 'three-ring circus,'" Beimel said. "It really was. It was where the people's business wasn't put first and instead, individuals were put first.
"I found out then, and learned then, to make your word your bond, don't really get involved in the politic aspects of it, of party affiliation. I'm for the two-party system, but I'm for it provided that we work together."
Today, Beimel said he is most pleased with his partners, fellow commissioners Daniel R. Freeburg and June H. Sorg.
"In our county today, I probably have two of the greatest county commissioners in the state and the best that I've ever been associated with," Beimel said. "It isn't about someone saying 'no' or 'yes,' it's about talking things over and coming up with the right answer."
For Beimel, a certain cohesiveness is what's missing on the state and national levels.
"If only the state representatives and the state senators, and the U.S. senators, would just remember that the people aren't the pawns, you have got to make decisions regarding the people and not on party lines," Beimel said. "It's just like the health care bill, 60 senators yes, 40 senators no. You'd think that one of those 40 senators would vote yes and that one of those 60 senators would vote no. It's along party lines and it's the same thing in our state.
"I don't ever have an agenda or make a decision based on politics. I basically make my decisions based on the people that I represent. That's one of the reasons why I'm here. With Dan (Freeburg) and June (Sorg), our decisions are never based on politics, and sometimes the parties get a little mad at you because you're making it about the people and the welfare of the people."

After drudging through a difficult first term as a county commissioner, Beimel was unsuccessful in his bid for reelection after serving from 1976-1979.
"I could not at that particular time blame the people for voting against me because there was a lot of controversy at that time," Beimel said. "It was innuendoes, it was lies and there was no way that you could combat those innuendoes and lies. Back then, they had sold the mineral rights in the county for around $600,000, I think that's what it was.
"We sold it to a company down around Ebensburg and it was mineral rights that were on the books for years, and the county had no business of owning them so we wanted to get rid of them and get them on the tax rolls and make the county some money."
However, there was a stipulation with the company from Ebensburg that bought the mineral rights based along the East Branch Dam.
"We had made a commitment with them that in order to sell these mineral rights that the rights bought along the East Branch Dam would be turned over to the state," Beimel said. "The state in turn would allocate mineral rights on state property in different parts of the state. That happened but with the political campaign, we had sold the mineral rights and we were going to make the East Branch Dam a dead sea again and I'm really a sportsman and a fisherman, and that wasn't going to happen.
"It was a political maneuver by people who were running for political office that we were going to do this to the county. Consequently, I ran and I lost."
However, Beimel regrouped and applied for the executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties.
"I was fortunate enough to get that and be able to represent all the county officials on a state and national level," Beimel said.

After serving from 1979-1984 as executive director of the Idaho Association of Counties, Beimel again decided to return home.
"My father had passed away and my wife's parents were still living," Beimel said. "We got to thinking that we were a long way from home and we'd call, and ask how they're doing and they of course say 'oh we're fine, everything is fine,' and in the meantime they're dying.
"We decided that we didn't want to ever be in that position again and we came back to Pennsylvania.
"I had always been involved with the insurance business so I came back and continued that. We raised our family and we have great kids who have done great things."
Among the children are a son, Ron, who works in food management as an executive chef; Debbie, who works for CG Electrodes; Tom, an entrepreneur with lighting and installation in the Brookville area; Terry, a high school principal at Kaiser High School in Fontana, Calif.; Christina, a pharmacist in the Meadville area; Joe, a Major League Baseball player and Duquesne University graduate in communications; and Greg, who is profoundly mentally retarded.
"With mental health and mental retardation, I know how important that program is because I have a son that is profoundly mentally retarded," Beimel said. "I see how they work with individuals and what they do so that's always been real important to me."

Six years ago, Beimel decided that he could still make a profound difference.
"I decided six years ago that I wanted to be commissioner again when I ran as an independent," Beimel said. "I hadn't decided that I wanted to run and I had gone to spring training, and it was too late when I got back to file a petition on the democrat party.
"My only alternative was to run as an independent. I came in fourth and I think I was 120 votes behind Dan Freeburg."
At the time and still to this day, the current commissioner felt he could make a difference in the lives of county residents as he ran in the last election.
"My thoughts in representing the people hadn't changed and I felt that I had something to offer, and I knew Christine Gavazzi was retiring," Beimel said. "I decided to throw my name in along with quite a few other people here. All the candidates were well-qualified to handle this job but by the grace of God, the people of Elk County elected me.
"My responsibility is to all the people of the county, not just democrats but the republicans and independents. I get real satisfaction in doing this job."