Robert R. Gerhart, Jr. (December 21, 1920 – August 23, 2021) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

for the

11th district 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

from 1969 to 1972. He also served as a member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

for the 126th district from 1967 to 1968.

Early life and education

He was born in

Robesonia, Pennsylvania Robesonia is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,061 at the 2010 census. Once famous for its iron furnaces (c. 1794-1927), the town was founded in 1855 by Henry P. Robeson, who had acquired existing iron ma ...

to Robert R. and Mae R. Moyer Gerhart. He attended Robesonia High School and graduated from Albright College in 1941. He served in the U.S. Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

from 1945 to 1946.

Business career

He worked as a news reporter for '' The Reading Times'' from 1938 to 1948. He was the owner of the Diamond Beach Resort in

Wildwood, New Jersey Wildwood is a city in Cape May County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area and is a popular summer resort destination along the Jersey Shore. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's year-rou ...

from 1966 to 1986. He was the owner of a public relations company named Roberts & Company. He published the ''New Era Union'' journal in

Reading, Pennsylvania Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philade ...

and was one of the early pioneers in the Pennsylvania

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadc ...

business as the founder of Suburban TV Cable Company.

Political career

Gerhart worked as a campaign manager for U.S. Congressman

George M. Rhodes George Milton Rhodes (February 24, 1898 – October 23, 1978) was a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania for ten terms from 1949 to 1969. Early life and career George M. R ...

. He was a member of the Robesonia Borough Council from 1946 to 1956. He served as a member of the

for the 126th district from 1967 to 1968 and the

Pennsylvania Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

for the

from 1969 to 1972.

Personal life

Gerhart and his wife Lillian Gerhart donated $1.5 million to Albright College in

to establish the Bob and Lillian Gerhart Chair in Communications. He died in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, in August 2021 at the age of 100.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerhart, Robert 1920 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American politicians Albright College alumni United States Army personnel of World War II Journalists from Pennsylvania Democratic Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania city council members Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators Politicians from Berks County, Pennsylvania American centenarians Men centenarians