Sympathies to the entire Kovach family. I spent many days at your house growing up. Berry picking up the tracks, swimming, & catching worms in the evenings. I didn't know your dad passed until the Courier came out or I would have visited. -Lisa (Fisher) Harbaugh

Prayers to the family.

Always wiling to rough-house, made him my favorite Uncle, he will always be in my thoughts and prayers. RIP Chief

Thoughts on Pap He was born right before the Great depression, in 1928. He went to school through the 8th grade. On what was supposed to be his first day of high school, his father said to him, "No more school for you, you are going to work with me", and his father took him to work in the coal mines to help make money for the family. When he was old enough, he enlisted in the Army during WWII and served in Germany, where he met Elvis Presley. He served in Korea, working as a mechanic in the motor pool. One day in Korea, he was helping to pull a truck out of the mud when the chain broke and wrapped around his legs. He was taken to a hospital and his buddies thought he was dead. They were quite surprised when he showed up a few days later, as they had already taken it upon themselves to split up his belongings among themselves. He served two tours in Vietnam, where he had several close calls with death. He was bumped off of a helicopter that was shot down and on another occasion, he had just gotten off of a helicopter that was blown up by a mortar round. When the Army asked him to do a third tour, he said "No, thank you" and retired after 22 years of service as a Warrant Officer. He came home to Patton, PA with his wife and 8 kids and settled down. At first he drove trucks for a living and after a while, he went back to work at the coal mine, this time as a mechanic. He vowed never to go back into the mines, if he could help it, and as far as I know he did not. When I first met him, I was already engaged to his third daughter, Theresa. I found out then that he was a little rough around the edges (I got called a stupid SOB several times during our first conversation, lol), but even with this, I could tell he was a caring man. He helped Theresa and I with furnishing our first apartment, giving us some used furniture. He also helped us each time we bought a new house, coming to visit and getting things setup or fixed up as needed. I loved to hear his stories and enjoyed our time together. He loved to hunt and fish and take his boat out onto Glendale Lake. He took me fishing and hunting when we visited and taught me many things about the world we live in. He could fix just about anything, especially mechanical things. He enjoyed life and I will miss my father-in-law, John Kovach, RIP Paul Saunders