Inspiration: Lycoming - The Pilato Mural in Williamsport

Worlds Largest Outdoor Portraiture Mural

Personally, I've looked at this mural many, many times - photographing it dozens of times over the years.  But I had no idea what all was in here.  There's an actual purple heart embedded in this mural.  Not only is there a part of the twin towers, but part of the steel was ground up and used in the paint for that section of the mural.  Families and friends of those pictured have come and added their handprints,  and letters.  Some have even painted halos on their loved ones.  Bring 3D Glasses - part of the mural is even 3D!

In Pilato's videos he says there's nothing like this anywhere else in the world - and I'm confident that is true.  

Named Inspiration: Lycoming, the mural is 96 feet by 24 feet and covers the walls of three buildings in a u-shape, around a parking area on 4th street, across from the Community Arts Center. [223 West 4th Street between Government Place and William Street]

Artist Michael Pilato spent more than two years planning, crafting, and creating the mural.

The mural depicts the history of Lycoming County, and hundreds of people who lived in the area and influenced the county in a positive way.

Throughout the mural can be found handprints representing family members and friends of someone featured in the mural. 

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DETAILS OF THE MURAL

AND THOSE WHO ARE PICTURED

==================

Every time I stop to visit this mural, I am struck by how much I do not know about it.  I've found videos and interviews, and have begun to put stories with the images - but there's simply SO much history in this mural, and still so much I do not know.  Please feel free to comment, or message me, with more information - and correct any spelling/names that I may have gotten incorrect, or details I missed or got wrong.  I'm often working from Pilato's videos for this information, and I can't always be sure I heard the names correctly.

For now, this is a little chaotic, with a LOT of information under some photos, and none under others.  I'm hoping to find a better way to organize this as I work, but for now, I've simply started in sections working from the northwest side, counter clockwise around to the northeast side. There are some sections I will need to go back and photograph better.  As with everyone on this blog, it's a work in progress.

Here's what I have so far:

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View of the West  Wall

=========WEST WALL=========

Unidentified, far right of the West Wall

This is the part of the mural that has 3d Elements - bring your 3D glasses!  Carl Stotz is in the tv.

Greg Thomas tells me that Francis "Franco" Daniele and his wife Joanna are up front (she is seated in a chair)- to the right behind her is their son Alfredo (Fred) and then the singer and then his sister Maria (with the wine glass) who currently run Franco's restaurant.9

Karen Meyers gave me the following information for this section: "The 3D portion is the picture on the TV. It is quite outstanding. At one time the Bull Frog loaned out glasses. The nephews names are Harold (Major) and Jimmy Gehron. My mother Grayce Stotz and Carl Stotz are standing (image taken from a photo of them attending a Little League World Series game). My mother died after the mural was done, thus she got a halo. The lilac bush represents the one Carl stumbled over when he sat down with boys for the 'talk' about playing on a baseball team. I gave Michael a piece of the roots to grind into paint, whether that was done or not I don't know."

In the video, Pilato mentions that the tree in the background is shaped like the Susquehanna River with all of it's branches.

The Miele Family

That appears to be the Plankenhorn mansion in the background - although I found another photo of this section labeled "Meile and Woods- Herdic House and Inn"

In the balcony over the red awning...

YWCA, Musicians, flags...

Dancing on the roof is dancer Billy Ross.

Bicyclist in front is likely Photographer Vincent Smith

Unknown

In the windows on the right?

[Note to self, photograph this section better on next visit]

On the left:

=====================

Master Sgt. Sean Michael Thomas

Recipient of the Purple Heart, Killed in Iraq

Shown holding his daughter Alexa, and watching over his sleeping wife, Carrie.

"Master Sgt. Sean Michael Thomas, 33, a native of Hughesville, died Tuesday, March 27, 2007, bravely serving his country in Baghdad, Iraq. He and his wife, Carrie Gwen (Rogers) Thomas of Walker Township, would have celebrated their first wedding anniversary this Easter Sunday. He was born December 28, 1973 in Salinas, CA, a son of Daniel Sr. and Diana (Matteson) Thomas of Hughesville. Sean was a 1992 graduate of Hughesville High School, where he was actively involved in tennis, wrestling, soccer, and football. Sean also attended Penn State University, where he was a member of the Chi Phi Fraternity.

Sean joined the Army Reserves as a senior in high school in 1992 and remained with the Reserves until 1998. He then joined and served with the Army National Guard 728th out of Lock Haven, PA which included an 8-month tour in Afghanistan where he was awarded the Bronze Star. He was currently deployed to Baghdad with the 28th Infantry DISCOM in Harrisburg, PA. Throughout his military career, Sean received various awards and was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Badge..."

=========================

Middle of the West Wall, bottom section

Historian Thad Meckley is blowing bubbles with his daughter, by the card rack

Plankenhorn, Old Corner Hotel

Samuel Jonathan Dornsife, American interior designer. Recipient commendation for carpet design for Iolani Palace, Resources Council, 1983.  Author of Lost Williamsport, 1976.

The girl to the left is named in one of the videos -Lena Yeagle.  she was an apprentice of Pilato's, and is now an artist out west...

The woman in the red coat is Marshall Posts girlfriend, according to the video.  Standing with her are Posts daughter and son in law - 

"He's [Marshall Post]  taking a picture of his girlfriend waving at him, from the mural across the street.  His daughter [Linda Schultz] and son in law [Peter Shultz] are shown with her.

Plankenhorn Stationary is still in business today.  144 West 4th Street.

Others have told me there used to be a Plankenhorn Candy Store near the Grit building as well.

Unknown Couple in Fibonacci circle

The boy in the superman costume is 7 year old Isaac Matthew Thompson, his mother is pictured behind him.  Isaac died of cancer in 2008.

In the middle here is Jesse Adam McKinney.  To the far right is Sister Henry Lambert of the Sisters of Christian Charity.  Sister Henry runs St. Anthony's Center on 125 East Willow Street - including a a soup kitchen, free medical clinic, and shelter.

The boxer is of Frank “Tinky” Casale. - a charcoal drawing of him hung in the Triangle Tavern.  

Jesse Adam McKinney

==============

Jesse's brother Reuben described Jesse as “the brother that wrote a book, got a full scholarship for a masters degree at Penn State University, designed a plant watering system that got the attention of NASA, studied to be a Buddhist Monk, became an artist, opened several small businesses, campaigned for disability rights constantly, raised a wonderful daughter, and was a celebrity wherever he went.”

"Family, friends, and the disability community as a whole were dealt a heavy blow with the loss of Jesse Adam McKinney, 51, of Williamsport, Pa. Jesse passed away on March 14, 2020, in Altoona, Pa. He was born December 5, 1968, in Barnwell, SC.

Jesse was born with cerebral palsy, and although hardships came his way, he accomplished much in his relatively short life. In 1993, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, the first person with cerebral palsy to do so. He started several businesses, wrote the book A Mind on Wheels, competed and won in national wheelchair bodybuilding competitions, and opened an art gallery of his work.  Jesse was also a serious student of Buddhism. Those practices and ideas were dear to his heart....

Art was also an important part of Jesse’s life, and while he lived in Williamsport, he met Michael Pilato, an artist originally from State College, Pa. Pilato designed and painted the mural “Inspiration: Lycoming County” on West Fourth Street, and other murals around the area. “Jesse made art to make people happy, to make himself happy,” said Pilato. Working together, “we became the greatest of friends.”

Jesse would create art using his computer, “using the arrow keys,” said Pilato. “It took him hours upon hours! But Jesse wanted to paint, so the Williamsport Police Department donated hats, and we taped different sized brushes to the hats. But the work eventually made his back start to hurt,” explained Pilato. 

Pilato teamed up with a friend, Nick Tinney, an engineer by trade. Tinney designed an easel that attached to Jesse’s wheelchair. The pair even added a waterfall element to the easel so Jesse could wash his brushes.  

Whatever he embraced, be it authoring a book, pursuing his degree, painting, or training for wheelchair bodybuilding competitions, Jesse did it with determination. In his bio for Wheelchair Bodybuilding Jesse wrote, “Bodybuilding has changed my life and continues to open many doors for me. I have severe Cerebral Palsy and never thought that my pictures would appear in magazines like Flex and Muscle & Fitness. However, all that I’ve accomplished just proves that with years of hard work and determination, we all can make our dreams come true. It has taken me over 15 years of sweat and pain in the gym to get where I am now. There are few free rides in life and those that are free usually have terrible consequences. I’ve chosen a hard road, but it has paid off.”....

In 2017, Jesse proudly accepted a position as a Teaching Assistant at Penn State University and worked while studying for his master’s degree in Plant Science for one semester before he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. "

NOTE TO SELF - I somehow missed photos of this section of the mural.  Need to photograph that next time I'm there!

Middle Section of West Wall.  Sammy Ray is in the window with his sax on the left.

Daniel Hughes in the middle, in the bottom section

Montoursville freshman Cordell Page, age 15, died of injuries sustained in an automobile accident in 2010. 

===============

Sammy Ray

Musician and Grocer

Read more about Sammy, including a long list of reminisces about his time growing up in Williamsport, and all of the bands and musicians he played with over the years:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2023/09/memories-from-life-of-sammy-ray.html

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Daniel Hughes, Pilato's niece

The others?

The man with the pipe in front of the red wagon is Joseph W. Grafius a Civil War veteran and a conductor on the Underground Railroad, according to a pamphlet from the historical society. [Thanks to Sandy Graffius for that information]

I'm pretty sure I SHOULD know who these two are... But at the moment, no names come to mind.

Daniel Hughes With Pilato's Niece

Daniel Hughes

Pilato refers to his niece as "Elle Belle", I believe.  He says she is dressed in the clothes of a slave girl, waving across the lot to "Daniel's great great great granddaughter Mamie Sweeting Digs..."

One of these days I am going to write about Daniel Hughes - but until then, here's what wikipedia has to say:

"Daniel Hughes (1804–1880) was a conductor, agent and station master in the Underground Railroad based in Loyalsock Township, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania in the United States. He was the owner of a barge on the Pennsylvania Canal and transported lumber from Williamsport on the West Branch Susquehanna River to Havre de Grace, Maryland. Hughes hid runaway slaves in the hold of his barge on his return trip up the Susquehanna River to Lycoming County, where he provided shelter to the runaways on his property near the Loyalsock Township border with Williamsport before they moved further north and to eventual freedom in Canada. Hughes' home was located in a hollow or small valley in the mountains just north of Williamsport. This hollow is now known as Freedom Road, having previously been called Nigger Hollow. In response to the actions of concerned African American citizens of Williamsport, the pejorative name was formally changed by the Williamsport City Council in 1936."

To the right of Pilato's niece is a hidden face peeking out - a hidden slave perhaps?

One of the Williamsport Saw Mills is on the bottom left, along with Peter Herdic.

Southwest Section of the mural.

  Barack Obama and Melody Russell in the window on the left.

Sgt John L Eichenlaub Jr

Barack Obama and Melody Russell

Unknown couple

John Gigunito & his sons

"When Barack Obama came into town he prayed with Melody Russell for our kids in the area at the center. Sadly, a week later she lost her house and her house burned down. And all of the kids put their handprints around her from the center here and then they put it in a paper then they wrote a letter to her how great of a teacher she is." - From the Pilato Video Tour of the mural

"Sgt John L Eichenlaub Jr  graduated from Montgomery High School is 1997 and was killed in a Blackhawk helicopter while serving in the Army. He was one of 11 soldiers that died that day 20 years ago. He was had a 2 year old son, and pregnant wife when he died. He is also on the monument at Lycoming County Veterans Park… he was a great man…" - From his sister, Ann Marie Baker

John Gigunito & his sons on the wall of Bullfrog Brewery. "Johnny G", or "Grateful John",  as he was referred to by so many was the owner and operator of Majestic Mirror and Glass, Inc. He was a community mentor for drug and alcohol rehabilitation in Williamsport having celebrated 30 years of sobriety and was  also a past member of the drug and alcohol court.  His son Nathan had preceded him in death.

I think I saw mention of the woman on the right as one of Pilato's apprentices, who is now a muralist herself - but I didn't catch her name.  The pose is the same as that of the apprentice shown in an earlier photo.

The picture of the man with a gorilla is  Tom Jr who went to Hollywood and won an Oscar best effects, best visual effects in Death Becomes Her.    "Tom Woodruff Jr. was born in 1959 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor, known for Starship Troopers (1997), Death Becomes Her (1992) and Prey (2022)"

Bottom of the Southwest Section

"Lou Feist in the picture with the Morgan Valley Road Band (in the white hat saluting)."

See more about the Morgan Valley Road Band:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-morgan-valley-road-band.html

==========SOUTH WALL==========

On the west side of the south wall

Jerry Walls, longtime Lycoming County planning director, is standing next to the door near the back alley of Bullfrog with his dad.

On the top left here is the Angel in Memory Of  Flight 800

On the evening of July 17 1996, 16 members of the French club at Montoursville High School, along with 5 chaperones, boarded a plane at Kennedy airport, for the French Club trip to Paris. The plane left at 8:02pm, but just twelve miles off the coast of Long Island, it exploded in midair, killing all of those on board. Including the 21 residents of Montoursville. Read more here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/07/between-high-school-broad-street-in.html

Unknowns to the right of the Flight 800 Memorial.

Below the Memorial is the section for Kyrie Hall.

Kyrie Hall, B.B. King, Coach Allen  Taylor, Al-Tamar, [two not yet identified]

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Kyri Hall

==========

14 year old Kyri Hall of Williamsport died of a heart attack in 2006, during a school basketball game. The mural shows Kyri, with his favorite musician, blues legend B.B. King.  Kyri got to meet B.B. King when he played at the Community Arts Theater, which is located directly across from the mural. The handprints in his wings are those of Kyri's  family members. 

Pilato mentions the nutcracker below him being for the nutcracker suite, and of course the basketball over his head, for Kyri's love of basketball.

 

There are spots around Kyri with letters from his family.

Sitting in a window to the right of Kyri is his coach Allen Taylor.

Below Coach is Kyri's brother Al-Tamar Z. Jason.  Pilato, in his video tour of the mural, tells the story of Al-Tamar, on the night of Kyr's death, seeing a halo around the moon.  He told his mom to come look, that Kyrie was an angel.  When Al-Tamar saw the mural he said "see, I told you he was an angel!"

Look closely at Al-Tamar, and you will see that Pilato painted the moon with a halo in his eyes.

=========SOUTH & SOUTH EAST==========

Never Forget

On the East Side Of the South Wall

Marine Lance Cpl. Abram L. Howard who died July 27, 2010 in Afghanistan alongside  Thomas Ogden Harris who fought in the Civil War, are shown in the window over the balcony.

The Two Men on Horses: "It was in 2005 the artist who painted the mural was in my grandfathers office, my grandfather was the captain at the time in city hall, and the artist saw a picture on his desk of him and another policemen on horses, (they had just started the mounted unit) they were working at Williamsport graduation in the picture, and the artist asked to borrow the picture of the two and included them on the mural" - From Emily Reeder  [JOHN S. McKENNA

34 McKenna, Capt. John S., DOB 11/10/1966, appointed February 4, 1993, and sworn in

February 15, 1993. United States Marine Corps veteran. Served in Lycoming County Drug Task

Force Unit 9/95-present; served in WBP Vice and Narcotics Unit 1/97 to 6/99; Member Special

Response Team 1998. Promoted to Corporal 6/28/99; promoted to Captain 3/17/00.Appointed

Chief on January 5, 2005 by Mayor Mary B. Wolfe. Badge #42; Cpl. #2; Captain #2.]

"The Sept. 11 section of the mural also includes a representation of the World Trade Center that is shrouded in blue, which represents the horrific events that morning. Thousands of tiny flowers interwoven throughout this area represent the many lives that were lost that day. Nearby, another solemn tribute is found, a small, burnished metal cross fashioned from steel beams that came from the Twin Towers."

This section of the mural is part of Pilatos annual 48 hour vigil - where he paints for 48 hours straight on the anniversary  of 9/11. 

"The world has never seen anything as horrible as 9/11. But mixed in with the horrific events were some of the most amazing and brave acts so many people did to try and help other people in so many different ways. Many of those people lost their own lives trying to save others. That is what makes our country so amazing, how we all can come together in times of crisis and need." - Pilato

There's so much in this section.  SO much.  Pilato continued to come back and add images for various new tragedies.  

Here are a few things that Pilato mentions in his video tour:

State Bird & Flowers For South Carolina

"for the people killed in the church there"

"This is the tiger that represents Oslo and the flowers are for those who were killed on the island there"

"Aurora for the movie theater"

"The Boston State Bird with 4 flowers for the Boston Bombing victims"

"The Mockinjay in rainbow colors, and these are the 49 Orange Blossoms, which the LGBT community and supporters came out and painted"

Pilatos friend Mary Ellen Tiesi who died in the twin towers, with the water running through her.  Tiesi was last seen helping her boss with a heart issue onto a crowded elevator. She then went to take the stairs, and was never seen again.

Tony Marden, firefighter who gave Pilato two pieces of the twin towers, in the shapes of crosses.  One is in this mural, one is in his mural at Penn State.  

The backs were ground down, the metal dust was saved and used to paint the symbols for the various religions in this mural.  Different religious leaders from the community came out and painted that metal into the symbols.

Ryan Ostrum was killed in Afghanastan

In his camo uniform are hidden words such as honor, loyalty, peace, liberty..

Ostrums father came to the mural and gave Pilato Ostum's Purple Heart, which Pilato then embedded into the mural.

Army Staff Sgt. Ryan S. Ostrom

Died August 9, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

25, of Liberty, Pa.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, Williamsport, Pa.; died Aug. 9 in Taqaddum, Iraq, of injuries sustained earlier from enemy small-arms fire in Habbaniya, Iraq.  See a historical marker in his memory, listing all of his awards,  here:

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=91237

n June 12, 2016, a man shot and killed 49 people and wounded 53 more in a mass shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States before Orlando Police officers fatally shot him after a three-hour standoff. 

Artist Michael Pilato added this information on my facebook post:

"I left Williamsport because I had a call for a project I could not refuse. The days following the Pulse Nightclub shooting that horrifically left 49 people dead and 59 shot with a community in tears I was painting on the Never forget section on the Williamsport mural. I painted the state bird of Florida, the Mocking Jay with rainbow colored wings and the LGBTQ community in the Port painted 49 Orange blossoms, Floridas state flower. While I was painting the Jay a birds shadow came across the wall as I looked up my phone was ringing. It was a Red Tailed Hawk. The moment I left the hospital after my daughter died a hawk flew ten feet above me and was hovering looking down words in my direction. So I answered the phone and it was Deborah Beidel from University of Central Florida, asking me to paint the two students flowers that were killed in Pulse as well as asking if I would be interested in doing a Inspiration mural for the suffering. Then as I was painting the two blossoms a teacher and friend called and asked if I could come and paint a healing mural for the children of Orlando. I took the red tailed hawk as a sign and I immediately took up my brushes in arms and headed south. Seven years later, with 8 more murals finished, I’m home in State College I will be back to Williamsport to add more on the mural in the spring. This is a article about the Pulse mural that was in the Smithsonian magazine. I hope you enjoy. Thank you again for putting a smile on my face, may you be blessed!"

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pulse-nightclub-shooting-mural-180982384/

============EAST WALL===========

North Side Of  The East Wall

Right side section of the East Wall

Religious leaders section at the bottom

South Side Of The East Wall

Religious Leaders Section

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Mamie Sweeting Diggs 

in purple on the far right window.  Handprints below her.

===============

On the far right, in the window, is Mamie Sweeting Diggs, Great Great Granddaughter of Daniel Hughes.  [Directly across from her, on the West Wall, Daniel Hughes is waving back to her]

Mamie had taught the Underground Railroad she passed away so she's got the Halo and she's in a section with religious leaders you see they're waving"

"Mamie Sweeting Diggs was the fourth generation descendent of Daniel Hughes, a conductor on the Underground Railroad in Lycoming County, PA. Mrs. Diggs could often be found in schools, colleges, museums, libraries and any other place that people gather, telling the history and stories that were passed down from Daniel to his thirteen sons. Mamie's grandfather, Robert, helped his father, Daniel Hughes, hide escaped slaves in the caves behind their home on Freedom Road. They fed them, nursed the sick back to health and delivered them safely to the next "station." Robert passed the stories to his children, including Mamie's mother, Marion. Marion tended the family homestead, maintained Freedom Road Cemetery (where nine black Civil War vets are buried) and passed Daniel's stories down to her children. Mamie Sweeting Diggs refused to let the tradition end. She believed that future generations will be vulnerable to the possibility of history repeating itself if there is no understanding of what slavery and the struggle to end it cost her family and so many others. Mamie Sweeting Diggs spent years researching and documenting the stories she had heard since childhood and donated her research to the Lycoming College archives. Mrs. Diggs was responsible for much of the historical research on the WVIA video "Follow the North Star to Freedom" and her stories are featured on the Freedom Bound website. And probably most importantly, she personally brought history alive for multiple generations of school children in Lycoming County. Mamie was an honored guest, along with Harriet Tubman's great granddaughter, at the initial launch of the Freedom Schooner "Amistad" and has won a number of awards for her community service and storytelling, including an honorary doctorate from Lycoming College."

Listen to Mamie's Oral Stories here:

https://underground.lynnestomin.com/index.html

Mamie Sweeting Diggs, 1996

=====================

The woman in the stairway with the halo is "My Great Aunt Kathryn Jackson aka Gaggie.", according to Anessa Renn Deppen.  Benjia Weusi Hurul-Ayni  added "She is also the MOTHER of the church. BETHEL AME CHURCH. She also spent her life working, assisting many Dr's and Judges (Worbecks, Caplains just a few I remember) in Williamsport."

 [I'm transcribing this from the video, and I KNOW the spelling can't be right - but I'm going to go with what I hear and hope someone can correct me]  Diane Benaje  one of the highest ranked woman Buddhist monks in America.  "

Father Manno are riding his Harley Fred and the stations of the cross are in hardly like you can see here here's Jesus Pontius Pilate rabbis see the crosses on the hill Jesus there with the two wells for speeches

------------------------------------

Father Manno and his bike Fred.  "the stations of the cross are in the Harley like you can see here here's Jesus Pontius pilot , Barabbas, you see the crosses on the hill Jesus there "

"received the YMCA Racial Justice Award in 2004, the Lycoming College Sister Vincent Humanitarian Award in 2009, National Community Service Award from the American Rescue Workers in 2009, the NAACP Social Justice Award in 2009 and the Alexander Nesbitt Committed to Caring Award in 2016. In the Williamsport area, a place he was extremely proud to call home, he was a member of the Opioid Task Force, Heart of Williamsport, Firetree Place, and Project Bald Eagle. He created a Sunday School Educational Curriculum for individuals struggling with heroin addiction.

Father Manno was a member of the Knights of Columbus. He was instrumental as an original organizer and the chaplain of the 9/11 Memorial Coalition Ride, which allowed him to combine two things that he loved; honoring veterans and service members, and showing his patriotism while enjoying a ride on his own Harley Davidson motorcycle. He was the very proud chaplain of the Williamsport Fire Department and an excellent ambassador of the MDA "Fill the Boot" Campaign."

---------------------------------------------

The woman in the stairwell is, according to the video "Dianne Benaj [spelling??] one of the highest ranking female "Buddhist Monks" [Can women be monks? I think there may be another term.  Forgive my ignorance.] in America. I have had no luck finding more about her, I think I have the spelling very wrong.

South East Top, over the Religious Leaders Section

SO many handprints here... and a few baseball uniforms.

Alexis Griess sent me the following clipping, about this section:

When Alexis Griess visited the LLWS museum on a field trip with with the kindergarten class from St Boniface School, she saw a photo of her grandfather in one of the displays.  Although photo was not labeled, the museum did not even  know who the boys in the photo were, she recognized him.  Her family however, didn't really believe it.   A few years later, her  father stopped in to see for himself, and found that the photo was indeed his grandfather, and his uncle.  When her father, Gary, shared the story with Michael Pilato, he included it in the mural.  

Frederick Douglas is on the far left

To the right is Marshall Post with the camera, and beside him are Rose and Pete Depasquale in blue sweaters.

Sharon Lucas Phillips is pictured here.

================

Marshall D. Post

Committed To Making Everyone Smile

===============

Marshall Post

In WWII he was a gunner on a plane.  He did 150 missions over Suribachi "which was unheard of."  He had 5 major heart attacks by the time he was 40 years old. Post asked God why he was so fortunate, to still be alive.  He then decided that every person he met would walk away from him with a smile on their face.  Pilato shared that story with the students at Sheridan Elementary in Williamsport, and the students then wrote Post letters, telling him about people who had made him smile.  Post was on his deathbed at the time, and his daughter read him the letters while Pilato painted his portrait.  

Post was a fly fisherman, and he died on the first day of fishing season.  His halo is made of fish doing the infinity symbol.

Posts handprint is above him on the mural, and he wrote a poem to be included on the mural - shown above him.  His grandson came in and inscribed on the mural.  The footprints are those of his grandchildren, and they are portrayed in the lens of his camera.

He's taking a picture of his girlfriend waving at him, from the mural across the street.  His daughter [Linda Schultz] and son in law [Peter Shultz] are shown with her.

Obituary for Marshall D. Post

Marshall D. Post of Williamsport passed away peacefully at home on April 17, 2005. He was born in 1919 in Missouri. He was preceded in death by his parents, Marshall and Marie Post (Reading), his wife, Grace, and his daughter, Grace Marie. He and his wife moved to Williamsport from Bethlehem in 1982 after his retirement from Bethlehem Steel Corp. He was a lifelong fisherman, bird hunter and poet, who instilled a love of nature in people of all ages from all over the world. He was well-known among his friends and co-workers as a humorous and entertaining bard, and many people will miss the measured stanzas and sharp wit that marked his prose. Family, friends and his spiritual life ranked higher than his love of a good birddog, a fine sporting gun, his Sage rods and fly boxes. His grandchildren were the lights of his life, receiving more shooting and fishing lessons than anyone else in his long and full life. He grew up in the Berks County area, receiving his high school diploma from the Hill School, Pottstown, in 1939. He attended Cornell University until 1941, when he enlisted in the Navy following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Prior to being honorably discharged at the wars end, he served as a combat air crewman in Bombing Squadron Nine throughout most of the Pacific theatre and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and five Air Medals. He was with the group that made the first naval carrier-based aircraft raid on Tokyo in 1945 and participated in both the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns. He was married in 1944 to Grace Marie Brown of Washington, Indiana, who was his wife for 51 years. After the war, he received a bachelor of science degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri. Following graduation, he worked in the editorial department of newspapers in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. He opened his own public relations agency in Reading in 1954. In 1956, he accepted a position in the public affairs department of Bethlehem Steel Corp., where he was responsible for all contact with print and electronic media both in this country and abroad. He was named manager of media relations in 1962. During his career, he was a member of the American Iron & Steel Institute, the American Mining Congress and the Business Roundtable and served on the public relations committees for these associations. Since his move to Williamsport, he had been an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church, Williamsport, serving on the stewardship, finance and endowment committees. His wife was also a member until her death in 1996. Survivors: Daughter, Linda Schultz and son-in-law Peter Schultz of Williamsport; son, Marshall Post of Sacramento, Calif.; brother, William Post of Sarasota, Fla.; grandchildren, Charles and Dana Schultz, Dylan Post. 

Beside bank window - Tony Bennet

Bennet performed across the street at the Community Arts Center

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READ MORE
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Website for the Mural:

https://pilatomurals.com/murals/inspiration-lycoming-county/

Michael Pilato's Ted Talk At PSU

WVIA Documentary Trailer

THe WVIA Inspiration Lycoming: Walls that Talk documentary ws screened in Williamsport on May 4th 2007 at the Community Arts Center. "There are over 300 people in the mural, and with the help of mural artists Michael Pilato, we have chosen some of the most inspirational and emotional stories to feature in the documentary.  A secondary focus of the documentary is the process."

O

Mingled in with celebrities who have visited the county, such as Katherine Hepburn and Gene Kelly, are politicians Gerald Ford and Robert Kennedy along with other nationally known figures including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Mark Twain.