PRINTER'S NO. 3669
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
2230
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY EVERETT AND PICKETT, JUNE 29, 2016
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, JUNE 29, 2016
AN ACT
Designating a portion of State Route 220 in Lycoming and
Sullivan Counties as the Lieutenant Commander John J.
Peterman Memorial Highway; and designating a portion of State
Route 220 in Lycoming County as the Thomas A. Paternostro
Memorial Highway.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Lieutenant Commander John J. Peterman Memorial
Highway.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as
follows:
(1) Lieutenant Commander John J. Peterman was born in
Nordmont, Sullivan County, on January 19, 1923, and in 1941,
graduated from Sullivan Highlands School, Sonestown. He
enlisted in the United States Navy 11 days after graduation.
(2) Lieutenant Commander Peterman spent the early years
of his service in the Navy assigned to submarines. Lieutenant
Commander Peterman was initially assigned to the USS Flying
Fish (SS229). While abroad, Lieutenant Commander Peterman
made nine war patrols, having a part in the Battle of Midway,
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patrolling the Truk Lagoon off the Caroline Islands and
patrolling in the Sea of Japan.
(3) After serving aboard submarines for 11 years,
Lieutenant Commander Peterman served as a torpedo instructor.
In 1955, Lieutenant Commander Peterman became a commissioned
officer, serving at ammunition depots in New Jersey and
California. He also spent time on the USS Henrico (APA45) as
a gunnery officer and then on the USS Sperry (AS12) as a
weapons repair officer. He served the last five years of his
Navy career as an underwater weapons officer in Newport,
Rhode Island. Upon retiring in 1972 as a lieutenant
commander, he returned home to his native Sullivan County,
where he served a term as county sheriff, and as a Laporte
Township Supervisor.
(4) Lieutenant Commander Peterman was active in his
community where, as a member of the Williamsport Base of the
United States Submarine Veterans, Inc., he participated in
visits to the Janet Weis Children's Hospital, visiting with
pediatric patients while making them "honorary submariners."
Lieutenant Commander Peterman would wear his uniform for
these visits, often giving the children a living history
lesson. Lieutenant Commander Peterman was also an active
member of the Sonestown American Legion Post #601.
(b) Designation.--The section of State Route 220 from State
Route 2081 in Shrewsbury Township, Lycoming County, to State
Route 42 in Laporte Township, Sullivan County, is hereby
designated as the Lieutenant Commander John J. Peterman Memorial
Highway.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the highway to
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traffic in both directions on the highway.
Section 2. Thomas A. Paternostro Memorial Highway.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds as follows:
(1) Thomas A. Paternostro was born in Williamsport on
August 9, 1939. He was married to Marthalie Ryan Paternostro
for over 48 years. He was a 1957 graduate of the former St.
Mary's High School in Williamsport. He was a 1964 graduate of
Lycoming College where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree
in political science. In 1975, he received his Masters of
Public Administration from St. Lawrence University in Canton,
New York.
(2) Mr. Paternostro was a lifelong educator. He was both
an elementary and secondary school teacher before serving as
an elementary principal in Prattsburgh, New York. He then
served as superintendent of schools in the Clifton-Fine
School District in Star Lake, New York, and the Oneonta City
School District in Oneonta, New York. In 1981, he became
superintendent of schools at the East Lycoming School
District in Hughesville, where he served admirably for 11
years.
(3) Following his retirement from public schools in
1992, Mr. Paternostro went to work for the Industrial
Modernization Center in Montoursville. There he was a driving
force behind the Pennsylvania School-to-Work initiative, a
project that ultimately became a national model for youth
apprenticeship. He testified about this initiative in front
of a United States Senate committee. His testimony and the
initiative were later featured on the ABC News American
Agenda and in Smithsonian Magazine.
(4) Continuing his dedicated service to public education
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and children, Mr. Paternostro served as the director of the
Children's Advocacy Initiative for Lycoming County in the
early 2000s. In 2004, he received the Child Advocate Award
for Leadership on Children's Issues.
(5) Mr. Paternostro spent time supervising student
teachers at Bloomsburg University. He also spent three years
as a consultant for the American Board for the Certification
of Teacher Excellence in Washington, DC.
(6) From 2005 to 2011, following an appointment by the
Pennsylvania Secretary of Education, Mr. Paternostro served
as one of the Commonwealth's first Distinguished Educators,
individuals serving to help struggling districts throughout
the State improve student achievement.
(7) Mr. Paternostro was an active member of his
community. He was a charter board member of the Northcentral
Pennsylvania Conservancy, past president of the Lycoming
Audubon Society, chairman of the capital campaign of the
Hughesville Library Building Committee, past president of the
Hughesville Rotary, past chairman of the Literacy Board at
the James V. Brown Library, former member of the Lycoming
County Historical Society Museum board, former member of the
Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce Education Committee
and a Leadership Lycoming volunteer.
(8) Mr. Paternostro also served on the State Legislative
Joint Commission Task Force on Children, Lycoming County's
Child Death Review Team, Lycoming County's School Safety
Committee on Homeland Security, and most recently, as a
member of the Lycoming County Heroin Drug Task Force. He was
also a proud former member of the Picture Rocks Volunteer
Fire Department fire police.
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(9) Until his passing, Mr. Paternostro was a regular
contributor to Webb Weekly, where he wrote a feature column
on nature.
(10) Mr. Paternostro served his country in the United
States Navy from 1957 through 1965, including time spent in
the Naval Reserve. He attended Naval Communications School as
well as Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. He
received a special commendation from the Chief of Naval
Operations for his Far East service following his time spent
in Japan.
(b) Designation.--The section of State Route 220 in Lycoming
County from State Route 405 in Hughesville Borough to the
Picture Rocks Borough line is hereby designated the Thomas A.
Paternostro Memorial Highway.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the highway to
traffic in both directions on the highway.
Section 3. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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