Philip W. Gergen

MOUNT CARMEL — Philip W. Gergen, a son of Dr. and Mrs. L.E. Gergen, of Mount Carmel, passed away. Philip was born at Ashland State General Hospital, Aug. 31, 1932. He attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel grade school, Mount Carmel Junior High School and graduated from Mount Carmel High School in 1950. While in high school he played three years of varsity basketball, played clarinet for six years in the band and was drum major his senior year. He attended Mount Saint Mary's College, Susquehanna University and graduated from Bloomsburg State Teachers College. While at Bloomsburg, he played in the Maroon and Gold Band and was president his senior year. He also was the leader of the 16-piece college dance band, playing lead alto sax. He received his master's degree from Bloomsburg University and his degree as school administrator from Bucknell University. After graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and received his officers commission at U.S. Naval Officers Candidate School, Newport, Rhode Island. His naval career of 21 years included assignments with the naval security group and other joint duty assignments. He served tours of duty with naval security headquarters, Washington, D.C., and Fort Meade, Maryland. His overseas assignments were with CINCUSNAVEUR/DIRNAVSECGRUER London, where he received the Naval Unit Commendation Medal. In Washington, D.C., he was director of training and advancement for 17,000 U.S. naval communications technicians. He served overseas in Europe in London, Germany and was stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. While in the Navy he was a member of the Naval Security Station championship softball team in the District of Columbia league, played on service basketball teams in Washington, D.C., London, Frankfurt and Honolulu, was a member of the National Golf League in Washington, D.C., and a member of the All-Navy Bowling Team in Europe and the second-place volleyball team. After retiring as a naval lieutenant commander, he returned to Mount Carmel where he taught senior democracy for 21 years at Mount Carmel High School and was assistant principal the last five years of his career. He served on the boys basketball team as an assistant coach, football stadium announcer and sports information director from 1977 to the present. He served as an usher at the 11 a.m. Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, was inducted into the Ed Romance Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, was a member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2110 and the American Legion Post 91, a member of the former Shamokin City Band and current member of the Catawissa Military Band and a member of numerous U.S. naval associations, clubs and organizations. He married the former Joan Boyle, a retired psychiatric nurse specialist at Geisinger Medical Center, in a military wedding in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Oct. 4, 1958. Joan preceded him in death July 8, 2007. He was remarried to Elaine in 2008. Surviving are two children, his daughter, Susan, who resides in Maryland and works at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, and her husband, Glenn, and two children, James and Danielle; and his son, Robert, who resides in Pennsylvania and is a senior director at Weyeth Pharmaceutical, with his wife, Laura, and their three children, Brit, Trevor and Annelisse. GERGEN — Philip W. Gergen. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Mount Carmel, with the Rev. Francis Karwacki as celebrant. Burial with military honors will be in All Saints Cemetery, Elysburg. Viewing will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday and 9 to 10:45 a.m. Tuesday at the Joseph J. Stutz Inc. Funeral Home, 40 S. Market St., Mount Carmel, Joseph J. Stutz III, supervisor.