Thomas J. Szczepanski Sr., 81, of Allentown, passed away June 12, 2023. He was the loving husband of the late Marjorie (Bickel) Szczepanski. Born in Allentown, he was the son of the late Edward W. Szczepanski Sr and Stella (Rish) Szczepanski. Thomas served in the U.S. Marine Corp, where he served as Presidential Guard and aboard the USS Constellation. He retired from Bethlehem Steel as a Forge Conditioner. Thomas enjoyed fishing and hunting. He will be deeply missed.
Survivors: children- Eleanor Schaeffer and husband Michael, Thomas J. Szczepanski Jr. and wife Susan, Jean Flickinger; grandchildren- Megan, Timothy and Thomas Szczepanski III.
A graveside service will be held on Friday, June 16th at 9AM in Resurrection Cemetery in Wescosville.
Contributions can be made in Thomas’s memory to your local Veterans Affairs office.

Marissa Leigh (Blauert) Sweitzer, 37, of Schwenksville, passed away May 20, 2023. She was the loving wife of nearly 10 years to Mark Sweitzer. Born in Philadelphia, she was the daughter of Peter and Mary Louise (Kohut) Blauert.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Summit University. Marissa had worked for Buckmans Inc. as an accounts payable clerk and operated Handmade Creative Solutions and Naptime Makers.
Marissa loved the Lord, and had the same love for people as Christ did for his children. She would always go out of her way to help people, no matter the situation and was truly selfless. She was a member of Journey Church in Phoenixville where she served as an usher and helped with Journey Kids & Hospitality teams.
Marissa enjoyed volunteering and helping her community. She loved traveling, skiing, snowboarding, vacationing, spending time with family and friends, and was an extremely talented seamstress.
Marissa will be deeply missed by her husband-Mark Sweitzer; parents- Peter and Mary Louise Blauert; children- Benjamin Mark Sweitzer and Olivia Ann Sweitzer; brother- Stephen K. Blauert, his wife Kate and their children Theodore and Winnie; brother- Jonathan P. Blauert, his wife Tiffany and their children Teagan and Lennan; close aunts- Annette McClatchy wife of Tom and Susan Cousounis wife of Jim; close cousins- Chris McClatchy, Nicole Cousounis, Shelby Redcay and Collin Sefcik.
A service will be held privately for the family on Friday. A public service will be announced for May 30that a later date.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Marissa’s memory to the Sweitzer Children’s Scholarship Fund c/o Mark Sweitzer or Venmo to @Kohut-FuneralHome.

Mary Avila Smith, 63, of Allentown, passed away November 10, 2022. Born in Allentown, she was the daughter of Ethel May (Gruber) Galgon and the late Joseph Galgon Sr. Mary worked for many years in Behavioral Health & Special Needs Services. She enjoyed spending time helping and caring for others. Mary liked going on trips to the beach and spending her time gardening and tending to flowers in her back yard. She loved her cats and had a heart for rescuing those without a home. Most of all Mary loved spending time with her family. She will be deeply missed.

Survivors: mother- Ethel Galgon; children- Mandi Abernathy and her husband Craig, Clinton Svitilla Jr. and Darnell Ferrell; grandchildren- Aria, Brielle & Emmalyn Abernathy and Adeline & Brysen Svitilla; siblings- Betty Turczyn, Joanne Nichol and Joe Galgon Jr.; and many other loving nieces, nephews, extended family, and friends.

Services will be Private for the family care of Kohut Funeral Home, Inc.

Contributions can be made in Mary’s memory to Turning Point of Lehigh Valley 144 E. Susquehanna St. Allentown, PA 18103. https://www.turningpointlv.org/get-involved/donate/

Charles D. Seifert, 95, of Allentown, passed away February 4, 2022. He was the loving husband of almost 70 years to the late Irene R. (Sukenik) Seifert. Born in Allentown, he was the son of the late Charles and Bessie (Nagle) Seifert. Charles served in the U.S. Navy during WWII on the LST350 during the D-day landings. He retired from Bethlehem Steel. Charles was a member of the VFW #2124 and was part of the 8th Ward Block Watch. He received the City of Allentown Leonard Buck Award for Crime Prevention. He will be deeply missed.
Survivors: sons- David (Julie) and Richard (Kathy), grandchildren- Jessica Trulick, Alan, Daniel and James, 5 great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his sister- Harriet Kratzer and brother- Lewis.
A viewing will be held Thursday, February 10th 10-11AM with a Service at 11AM in Kohut Funeral Home, Inc. 950 N. Front St. Allentown, PA 18102. Interment to follow in Highland Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Charles’ memory to the American Cancer Society.

Larry K. Shankweiler, 88, of Allentown, passed away December 13, 2021 in Whitehall Manor. He was the loving husband of the late Nedy C. (Claman) Shankweiler. Born in Allentown, he was the son of the late Kermit D. and Marion (Wuchter) Shankweiler. Larry graduated from Allentown High School in 1950. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He taught for 31 years as an instructor for Lehigh Valley Vocational School. Larry belonged to the Allentown YMCA and was a U.S. Handball member. He will be deeply missed.
Survivors: son- Larry S. and wife Susan Shankweiler of Manhattan, KS, daughter- Linda S. Shankweiler and husband Scott Burnet of Allentown, grandchildren Austin and Caylin, nieces and nephews- Ann Louise Carpenter, Stephen F. Carpenter, Paula Burke and Joseph Stelmach. He was predeceased by his son- Ronnie.
A viewing will be held Friday, December 17th 10-11AM with a Service to follow at 11AM in Kohut Funeral Home, Inc. 950 N. Front St. Allentown, PA 18102. Burial to follow in St. Marys Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Larry’s memory to the Wounded Warriors Project or to Whitehall Manor care of the funeral home.

Wolodymyr I. Silin, 79, of Harleysville, passed away November 2, 2021. He was the husband of 52 years to Marie (Chudolij) Silin. Born in Ukraine, he was the son of the late Ivan and Sofia Silin. He served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. Wolodymyr graduated from Milwaukee School of Engineering and then worked for many years as an electrical engineer in research and development. After his retirement he worked as a manager for Walmart. He was of the Ukrainian Orthodox faith.
Survivors: wife- Marie Silin, sons- Jakiw and Michael Silin, granddaughter- Lillie Marie Silin.
A Calling time will be held on Thursday, November 11th 11AM-12PM with. Service at 12:00PM Kohut Funeral Home Inc 950 N. Front St Allentown, PA 18102.

Rosie M. Sembrot, R.N., a loving wife, mother, and grandmother died on July 22, 2021 at the age of 85 years old. Rosie Mikos Sembrot was born on April 22, 1936 in Reading, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Mary and Nicholas Mikos. She graduated from Northeastern Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with a degree in nursing in 1957. She was married to the late Dr. Joseph T. Sembrot on November 12, 1960. She was a devoted grandmother to her four grandchildren and contributed enriching their lives.
She was an avid reader, gardener and volunteer in the Lehigh Valley, where she volunteered her time at St. Luke’s nursing home. She was an active member of St. Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Allentown, Pennsylvania where she volunteered at St. Mary’s Women’s Auxiliary. She enjoyed the outdoors, having traveled extensively with her husband on trips to Europe and throughout the United States. She was an avid numismatics, stamp collector and baseball card collector, having spent much leisure time in Baltimore, Maryland in pursuit of stamps and baseball cards while her husband attended medical lectures at the National Institutes of Health (“NIH”). She would recount her travels in Baltimore as her husband listened to the infectious disease specialists at the NIH. Rosie also took continuing education classes to learn Russian along with taking Chinese cooking classes to perfect the art of Chinese traditional foods.
She was predeceased by her oldest daughter, Debra Lynn who died at 10 years of age. She is survived by her daughter, Attorney Mary Sembrot Croly and her husband, Attorney Peter B. Croly, as well as her grandsons, Michael W. Croly and Matthew J. Croly of Larchmont, New York. She is also survived by her son, Attorney Joseph M. Sembrot and his wife, Mary Beth Sembrot as well as her granddaughter, Samantha Sembrot and her grandson, Joseph W. Sembrot of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Services-A viewing will be held on Tuesday, July 27th at 10:30-11AM in Kohut Funeral Home, 950 N. Front St., Allentown, PA. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, July 27th at 11:30AM in St. Mary’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 1031 Fullerton Ave., Allentown. Burial to follow in Parish cemetery and private luncheon thereafter to which family and friends are welcomed.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any donations be made to the American Cancer Society in the memory of their beloved mother.

Irene R. (Sukenik) Seifert, 92, of Allentown, passed away June 3, 2021. She was the loving wife of nearly 70 years to Charles D. Seifert. Born in Emmaus, she was the daughter of the late Jacob and Mary (Vlahovic) Sukenik. Irene was a member of St. John the Baptist Slovak Catholic Church and the church auxiliary. She will be deeply missed.
Survivors: husband- Charles Seifert; sons- David and wife Julie Seifert, Richard and wife Kathy Seifert; grandchildren- Alan, James, Jessica and Daniel; 4 great grandchildren; sister- Marion Melber. She was predeceased by her brothers- James and Edward Sukenik.
A viewing will be held on Wednesday, June 9th 10-11AM with a service to follow at 11AM all in Kohut Funeral Home, Inc. 950 N. Front St. Allentown, PA 18102. Burial to follow in Highland Memorial Park, Allentown.
In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Irene’s memory to St. John the Baptist Slovak Catholic Church.