Bill to rename valley bridge after fallen PennDOT worker, ex-Union Twp. top cop
RINGTOWN – Nearly 42 years after his untimely death, a bill is now before Gov. Josh Shapiro that will honor Joseph Zienkiewicz and dozens of others who served their Commonwealth and country.
The bill will name the bridge that carries Little Mountain Road over the Little Catawissa Creek in Union Township after Zienkiewicz.
It’s not far from his native Pattersonville, near Creekside Restaurant just outside Ringtown.
He was a PennDOT foreman working in Berks County when he was killed in a crash in June of 1981. He was 52.
At the time, he was also Union Township’s police chief, and was a member of St. Mary’s Church in Ringtown and the Union Township fire company. He was also a Korean War veteran.
The senate voted unanimously to pass the bill, which also honors two other fallen PennDOT workers from Schuylkill County — William Hoffman, whose memorial bridge is on Route 443 in Walker Township, and Caitlin McGarry, whose bridge is on the same route but in Schuylkill Haven.
“I’m thankful the memory of the people in our area who lost their lives working to fix our roads and bridges will be honored for decades to come,” State Senator David G. Argall (R-29) said.
Since 1970, 90 PennDOT workers have been killed on the job, Argall’s office said.
The bill also honored dozens of service members and first responders from across the Commonwealth, including Shenandoah native Christopher Kiskeravage, with memorial bridges and highways.
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