The LuLac Edition #4,032, March 17th, 2019

WIL TOOLE

Our good friend Wil Toole passed away Friday afternoon after a long battle with cancer. I met Wil around 2008 long after his storied career in public service ended. He was an avid reader and sometime critic of LuLac but always was a backer of everything I did personally. Whether it was a book I was promoting, a TV show I was doing, or a death in my family, he was there for me. It was kind of astounding to me given the fact that I had only known him a short time but I learned very soon that Wil valued friendship and loyalty.
Wil was the one who persuaded me to join the President John F. Kennedy Knights of Columbus Council #372 in Pittston citing the uncles of mine who joined in the 1940s. He was big on family, tradition and knowing where you came from. I joined.  

Wil understood that when he ran for Controller as an Independent, with LuLac I had to write that election story straight down the line. (In the photo at a LuLac Forum was Bob Morgan and the ultimate winner Water Griffith along with Wil) He was a fierce champion of efficient government and was one of those seniors and past union supporters who never left the fold when the big orange menace appeared on the political scene.
He and I were kindred spirits in the fact that we felt that planning was the key to a happy and successful life. His life ended on Friday but he will live on in the memories of all who knew him, and ultimately got to regard him as part of their families. He will be missed.

WILFRID E. TOOLE

Wilfrid E (Wil) Toole passed away after a strong battle with Cancer. He was 76 and one day short of his birthday. Wil was fond of saying he had a full and happy life.
Wil was a 1961 graduate of St John the Evangelist high school Pittston. He attended Luzerne County Community College, Penn State Lehman and completed a Business Administration course with LaSalle University. After high school, he volunteered for military service with the US Coast Guard. He served aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Half Moon performing patrol duty in the North Atlantic as a Boatswainmate Third Class Petty Officer. Will earned five military medals including the Navy Expeditionary Medal for taking part in a non-declared war action while in Cuba in February 1962. He finished his enlistment by serving with the Armed Forces Military Police Group stationed in Brooklyn NY and was credited by Coast Guard Intelligence with infiltrating a gang stealing and selling military ID cards.
His professional career consisted of a management position with Liberty Consumer Discount Company managing several local offices and obtaining the designation of Special Lending Officer, a position held by only 70 of the company’s 850 national managers.
In 1975 Wil was asked to take the position of General Manager of the Del-Cap Detective Agency. He managed the day to day operation of what was then the largest private detective agency in NE PA having over a hundred full time and part time security guards with two radio dispatched patrol vehicles serving the surrounding counties.
Wil left the Del-Cap to work in government. He served part time on the staff of first time Congressman Frank Harrison. He held a position in the accounting office of Luzerne County Human Resources Development Department which was the administrator of the federal CETA Program. During his employment with that agency, he was one of the founders of the current Luzerne County employee’s union AFSCME Local 1398. After a breakdown in contract negotiations, the county employees went on strike for lack of good faith bargaining and Wil was a leader of the strike action. After 30 days on strike, a contract was agreed upon and Local 1398 became a certified union with Wil being elected to serve as the first president of the now certified union local 1398 of AFSCME.
Later he accepted a position as deputy to Mayor Tom Walsh of the city of Pittston. In 1988 he became the City Clerk/Administrator and was recognized by the International Association of City/County Manager’s Association with the designation of “Professional Municipal Manager” status. At the same time, Pittston City was the only city in NE PA listed in Who’s Who of Local Governments as being professionally managed. Wil remained in that position till a health issue caused him to retire in December of 1997. After a few years, Wil applied for and received a Pennsylvania Private Detective License and eventually earned three certifications in voice stress analysis and was accepted into the International Voice Stress Analyst Association.
Wil is survived by his wife Ellen (Gregorczyk) and his former wife of many years Carolyn Weiss Toole RN, sons Brian and his wife Mary Ann, Michael RN and Patrick as well as his grandson Brian and granddaughter Anna and several nieces and nephews. Wil was preceded in death by his father Edmund, mother Anna Dillon Toole RN, a brother Edmund Jr, sister Mary Betty Allardyce, and her husband James “Bidge” Allardyce.