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, stagger ...

for the 11th district 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 that is located in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,035 at the time of the 2020 census. The Robesonia area is served by the Conrad Weiser Area School District and Conrad Weiser High School ...

to Robert R. and Mae R. Moyer Gerhart. He attended Robesonia High School and graduated from

Albright College Albright College is a private liberal arts college in Reading, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1856 and had an enrollment of 1,652 students as of fall 2023. History Albright College traces its founding to 1856 when "Union Sem ...

in 1941. He served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

from 1945 to 1946.

Business career

He worked as a news reporter for ''

The Reading Times The ''Reading Eagle'' is the major daily newspaper in Reading, Pennsylvania. A family-owned newspaper until the spring of 2019, its reported circulation is 37,000 (daily) and 50,000 (Sundays). It serves the Reading and Berks County, Pennsylvani ...

'' 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. The city, and all of Cape May County, is part of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, and is part of the Philadelphia- Wilmington- Camden, PA-NJ- DE- MD combined ...

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 ( ; ) is a city in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fourth-most populous ...

and was one of the early pioneers in the Pennsylvania

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

business as the founder of Suburban TV Cable Company.

Political career

Gerhart worked as a campaign manager for U.S. Congressman George M. Rhodes. 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 Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mi ...

for the 11th district from 1969 to 1972.

Personal life

Gerhart and his wife Lillian Gerhart donated $1.5 million to

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

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

, in August 2021 at the age of 100.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerhart, Robert 1920 births 2021 deaths 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 men centenarians 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly