Published July 31. 2026 09:08AM<\/p>\n
The South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners paused its July 15 meeting to honor the life and service of longtime resident and community volunteer Manly H. Offutt Jr., who died July 2 at age 85.<\/p>\n
Board President Jacob Roth remembered Offutt as a familiar and respected presence at township meetings for more than three decades. \u201cManly attended nearly every Board of Commissioners meeting,\u201d Roth said. \u201cHis commitment and knowledge were unparalleled.\u201d Greenawalds Fire Chief Andrew Garger spoke about Offutt\u2019s decades of service to the department and the broader community. Offutt joined Greenawalds Fire Company in 1983 and served for nearly 43 years. While many residents knew him as the neighborhood \u201cHoagie Man\u201d because of his fundraising efforts, Garger said many of Offutt\u2019s most important contributions happened behind the scenes.<\/p>\n
According to Garger, Offutt played a key role in maintaining the accuracy of fire relief funding records and was known for carefully reviewing township meeting minutes, often identifying even the smallest errors. Garger also recalled Offutt\u2019s unwavering weekly routine. \u201cEvery Sunday at exactly 1:14 p.m., my phone would ring,\u201d Garger said, noting Offutt\u2019s regular reminder to sign fire relief association checks.<\/p>\n
Beyond his service to the fire company, Offutt volunteered extensively throughout the community. He was active through his church, Meals on Wheels, local election polling places, the Lehigh Valley Zoo and numerous civic organizations.<\/p>\n
Garger described Offutt as \u201cone of the greatest patriots I have ever had the privilege to know.\u201d Commissioners and attendees observed a moment of silence in Offutt\u2019s memory.<\/p>\n
The recognition highlighted Offutt\u2019s long-standing commitment to public service, volunteerism and civic engagement, leaving a legacy that township officials and community members said will not soon be forgotten.<\/p>\n
Press photo by MIchael HirschGreenawalds Fire Chief Andrew Garger recognizes the service and contributions of Manly H. Offutt Jr. during the July 15 South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners meeting. Sitting with Garger are Chris Strohler, Herb Bender and Kent Baird.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published July 31. 2026 09:08AM The South Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners paused its July 15 meeting to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256348,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-256347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}