I met with Gene Krasley at his home in Limerick Township....I could not help but notice the collection of Hess Trucks! Gene is an avid collector, although he assured me that he is "downsizing" his collection and that now he only has his favorites....Gene was born and raised in beautiful, downtown Royersford! He had one sister, Mary and three brothers, Art, Bud and Jack, all of which are deceased,...leaving a very empty space in Gene's life. I came to find out, during our conversation that Gene holds his family in the highest regard.
I met with Gene Krasley at his home in Limerick Township....I could not help but notice the collection of Hess Trucks! Gene is an avid collector, although he assured me that he is "downsizing" his collection and that now he only has his favorites....Gene was born and raised in beautiful, downtown Royersford! He had one sister, Mary and three brothers, Art, Bud and Jack, all of which are deceased,...leaving a very empty space in Gene's life. I came to find out, during our conversation that Gene holds his family in the highest regard. Three of the Krasley boys served our country in the military...Art was in the Navy, Bud was in the Army, and Gene joined the Air Force at the age of 17! Gene served in the Strategic Air Command, known as "SAC"....he was an aircraft instrument specialist. He spent four years in Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, South Dakota....a long way home for such a young man.....but, when Gene got out of the service, he went to work in the family business at Krasley Bleach and Dye Works on South 3rd Avenue in Royersford for 6 months.....As a young man, Gene enjoyed hunting, and he once got a six-point buck. Ready to begin his "working" life, he started at Farmers and Mechanic Bank in Phoenixville as a bank teller....Gene knew he was a people person, even then! Life started to take an interesting turn for young Gene....he was set up on a blind date with a young lady named Sandy....Sandy was a Bell Telephone operator....she was the voice on the other end of the line that would say, "number please", and connect the two parties! Six months after that first blind date, Sandy and Gene got engaged, and spent 54 years married!!! Gene started to build a very successful career in the banking industry from teller, to management to working directly under the President of Phoenixville Federal Bank. Much to his credit, while managing his family and career, he decided to attend Ursinus College Night School and graduated with his degree! He ended his banking career at IVB in Exton, and made some very famous friends, Joey "Smokey" Lasorta and his brother, Tommy Lasorta, who owned the Tavern in the Marchwood Shopping Center. Gene served his community as Township Supervisor for Upper Providence from 1992 - 1997.....He had fun being on the field crew for the Spring City American Legion Post 602 baseball team...Sandy and Gene always lived local, from their first apartment in Spring City, to several houses in the Boro of Royersford and then their last home in William Penn Villas. Sandy was a wonderful stay-at-home Mom to Kathleen, their daughter, and a great wife to Gene. Travel was always an enjoyment for the young Krasley family. They would head down to Ocean City, Maryland for yearly family beach trips...Once Kathleen grew up and had a family of her own, Gene and Sandy took the whole family to Ireland. They also traveled abroad to Germany. Kathleen had three children, Leah, a graduate of Kutztown University, Ian, who served in the Air Force and attended Penn State and earned a Master's Degree at Berkeley University, and Nick, who served as a Captain in the Army and graduated from the University of South Carolina with an IT degree...Those grandchildren became the most precious people to both Sandy and Gene. But, sadly, in 2014, Sandy passed away from cancer, which left Gene very lonely....Several years after Sandy passed away, Gene would be at home and stay to himself.....until he watched a nice woman named Joyce, who would walk in the development where he lives..Gene decided to join her in her walk, day after day....Gene and Joyce grew very close for 3 1/2 to 4 years.....until she, too, sadly passed from cancer. After sitting quietly for a while and thinking about our conversation, I asked Gene "what is left in your bucket list"......his response was to see his grandkids, Ian in San Antonio, Texas, Nick in South Carolina, and Leah in Kutztown. Gene keeps fit by going to the Spring Valley YMCA several times a week and is one of our valued members of Rotary....Gene, just like Ed, I enjoyed getting to know you immensely.
