HANOVER TWP. (Tribune News Service) — Longtime Hanover Area School Board member and President John Mahle passed away Monday night, Board Vice President Vic Kopko confirmed Wednesday morning. He was 67 according to a local report.

Mahle had been fighting cancer but often showed up at School Board meetings upbeat and positive — in a mask and hospital gloves at least once — sometimes boasting of how he still made the sessions despite the challenges.

"John dedicated his life to serving others," Kopko said via a text message. "He will be remembered for that."

Mahle got appointed to the board in June 1999 as a replacement for a person who resigned due to a job opportunity outside the district. He had run for a seat in that year's primary and garnered the most votes, so the appointment likely simply gave him a seat on the board that he would have won later that year. As Barrett noted, he had served in the military. He was working with the Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority when he first got on the School board.

Mahle was no stranger to controversy once on the board. In July 2001, residents alleged he had pushed the township fire chief at the time to move a hydrant so he could park in front of his home, a claim the fire chief strongly rejected. While Mahle himself was never embroiled in serious allegations, he sat on a board that dealt with problems including another board member being charged with accepting a bribe in exchange for influencing the awarding of a contract, a business manager departing under a cloud of suspected mismanagement, problems of over-payment for a bus transportation contract to a company run by the parents of another board member, and a stretch of unusually high job turnover in the superintendent's office.

But Mahle rarely lost his cool and remained affable under pressure, regularly voicing pride in student and faculty accomplishments, and in his longevity in office, though even before illness slowed him down he had started talking about this being his last term on the board.

"I am very proud to have work alongside of Mr. Mahle," Superintendent Nathan Barrett said via email. "He served his country in the United States Army prior to retirement, only to further serve our community for 25 years as a board member. I'm proud to have known him."

Under state law, the board has 30 days to pick a replacement to complete Mahle's term. If they do not reach a consensus, the choice will be made by a Luzerne County judge.

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