Chad Hunter and Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rose Black order food at the Bull Pen restaurant during the chamber’s monthly meeting in June. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

TYRONE — When her husband David A. “Tony” Black passed away from a sudden heart attack on Easter Sunday in 1992, Rose Black went through a lot of emotions as the mother of three young children.

Through support from her pastor and the community, Black, now 64, has become a well-known, charismatic leader who loves her community.

Black is the Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce’s executive director, the president of the Tyrone Area School Board and serves on various boards and committees in the community, including the Tyrone Youth Athletic Association Board, the Rotary Club of Tyrone, the Women’s Club of Tyrone, the Tyrone Events and Promotions group, the Tyrone Improvement Group and the Camp Anderson Corp. She is also the Tyrone steward for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy Group.

Shortly after her husband’s death, Black bought flowers from Leidig’s Farm and Greenhouses in Huntingdon County. Owner Donna Leidig said she didn’t know her well at the time, but through the years, Black has become a member of her extended family.

Leidig said Black has volunteered to help her family work on the farm for over 30 years. The farm has been in business for 53 years.

“When she was ready to leave we said, ‘Well, come back some other day and help us,'” Leidig said, adding Black is there to help “any day we need her.”

She said they “always have a good time” talking with each other while planting and watering vegetable plants and flowers.

Leidig said Black is a quick planter and does an excellent job. Oftentimes, they’d have a friendly competition to see who could plant them faster.

“I think the faster they talked, the faster they planted,” said Diane Leidig, her daughter.

Leidig said, over the years, they’ve shared some good times with Black, who is always there if they need help with anything.

“I think she does that for everyone in the community. If she knows somebody needs something, she would go out of her way to help them,” Leidig said.

In 1976, Black started working at Gardners Candies in Tyrone. There, she met her husband and married into the family. She and her husband owned the business until his unexpected death in 1992, when it was sold to Sarris Candies Inc.

Black said she was unemployed for a few years while she took care of her children before joining the Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce as its executive director in 1999.

“I just had a lot of support from my pastor and the community, and I knew I had to keep going for the kids and that’s what kept me going,” she said.

Gardners Candies store manager Robin Kushin has known Black for more than 40 years. She said their friendship has grown stronger in that time since their kids grew up together. They’re also both involved in the Women’s Club of Tyrone, in which they plant flowers, raise money for children at Christmastime and make chocolate eggs for Easter, with the proceeds benefiting student scholarships.

Kushin said they talk with each other almost every day.

“She’s just really sweet and she knows what’s going on. She’s highly respected in this area,” Kushin said. “I always get a smile when I see her because she’s very friendly.”

Tyrone Area School District Superintendent Leslie Estep worked at Gardners Candies when she was in high school and said she got to know Black well through that employment. Then, when Black’s children were active in the high school’s student council, Estep was the club’s adviser and worked with Black on many projects prior to Black becoming a school board member.

Estep said Black is a good listener who hears a lot of things about the school district and community, a helpful part of keeping eyes and ears open to parent and community concerns that may not come directly to school staff.

“She is often quiet, not because she doesn’t have anything to say, but because she is very good at sitting back and listening to everyone else’s thoughts and opinions before offering her own,” Estep said. “I always tell her that I need to be more like her in that regard.”

She said Black doesn’t like to be the center of attention and, in a crowd, people might not realize she’s in the room. However, when Black is missing from something she would normally be involved in, people ask, “Where is Rose?” Estep said, adding Black is a “do as I do” person.

“As a community leader, she does not ask anyone to do anything that she wouldn’t do herself and is always there to help,” she said. “It might mean that she is knee deep in dirt, running around in the rain or making deliveries — it doesn’t matter. If something needs to be done, Rose will do it, and the thing is, she just does it. It is second nature to her.”

Many of Black’s longtime friends, like Lori Eckert, echoed sentiments stating Black is “always there to help.”

“I love that woman. She is one amazing lady,” Eckert said. “You know she loves her town because she has worked diligently in every aspect of making Tyrone a good place to be. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t think Tyrone would be even half of what it is today.”

Brenna Saupp said she has known Black for a long time, but has only had the chance of working with her as part of the Rotary Club of Tyrone for five years. Saupp is the club’s vice president and works at D. B. Mackey Insurance in Bellwood.

Saupp said she doesn’t think there’s anybody better for the Tyrone area than Rose Black.

“I don’t know what Tyrone would do without her,” Saupp said. “She is an amazing person that puts her town very high. She wants to make sure that the town looks good and does well.”

According to Chad Hunter, the Tyrone Area Chamber board’s secretary, Black is “selflessly devoted to the community.”

“Rose has been a pillar in the community and her friendship is very important to me,” he said. “We work together on many projects, and she is a resource of information and a master connector having lived in the community most of her life.”

Black said it’s the people in the community who make Tyrone a special place to live. She said she’s a believer in what goes around, comes around.

“I’ve always been a firm believer in what you put out, you receive in return, whether it be in friendships or just helping someone. I feel like what I put out I can receive back,” Black said.

Black said she’s blessed to have received support from the community throughout the years and noted the “great collaboration” at the chamber is what keeps it going strong.

“We always get a ton of support. People are friendly and are always willing to help,” she said.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.

The Black file

Name: Rose Black

Age: 64

Hometown: Port Matilda

Family: Daughter, Christine Miller; son, David Black; daughter, Kari Neil; grandchildren: Ryder Black, Tripp Black, Saylor Black, Graylan Neil, Brynlee Neil and Rylan Neil

Education: Tyrone Area School District, Class of 1978; Altoona School of Commerce for business, 1978-79

Employment: Gardners Candies, 1976-92; executive director, Tyrone Area Chamber of Commerce, 1999-present

Hobbies: Gardening, traveling, cooking and spending time with her grandchildren