James H. Wescoat

James “Big Jim” Herbert Wescoat, 92, of 10726 Campbell Rd., Titusville, passed away Wednesday evening October 30, 2024 at the Titusville Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Titusville.

Jim was born on January 15, 1932, in Pleasantville, a son of the late Herbert C. and Mary Twombly Wescoat. Jim was married to Winifred “Winnie” Harvey Wescoat on October 2, 1954. She preceded him in death on July 28, 1956. Jim was later married to Margery “Marge” Burdick Wescoat on April 12, 1958. She preceded him in death on June 15, 2015.

Jim was a graduate of the Pleasantville High School, class of 1952. Jim was a veteran of the US Army having served in the Korean Conflict. Jim entered the service on December 11, 1952 in Pittsburgh, PA and was honorably discharged on December 10, 1954 at Ft. George G. Meade in Maryland with the rank of corporal.

He was employed at Cyclops Specialty Steel Corp and Dailey Auto Dealership before becoming a co-owner with his brother Harrison of the Keystone Service Station. He later established Wescoat’s Garage which he operated until his retirement.

Jim was a member of First Methodist Church in Titusville. Jim enjoyed hunting elk with his family and lifelong friends at their family Colorado elk camp. Jim also loved hunting deer with his grandchildren in and around his old stomping grounds near Pleasantville, walleye fishing with family and friends in Canada, snowmobile riding with family and friends all over the country. His favorite trail ride saying was “Wine for me and my men”! He also enjoyed snowbirding with his wife Marge in Florida. Jim enjoyed scrapping metal with all his children and grandchildren. He was a dedicated Pittsburgh Pirates sports fan.

Jim is survived by three sons; Mark Wescoat and wife, Cindy, of Idaho Falls, ID, Tim Wescoat and wife, Wendy, of Titusville, and James D. Wescoat of Titusville; three daughters-in-law, Naomi Wescoat of Neiltown, PA, Kim Wescoat of Stafford, VA and Lisa Williams of Ruther-Glen, VA; nine grandchildren; Lisa Wescoat, Lori Wescoat-Hayes and wife Lisa, Luke Wescoat and wife Shelley, Meghan Wescoat and husband Ian McGonagle, Ryan Wescoat and wife Erica, Danny Wescoat and companion Danica Ensle, Amy Atkins and husband Jeremy, Emily Cubbon and husband Nick, and Kendall Wescoat and companion TJ Miller; and several great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his two sons Bradley Scott Wescoat and Daniel William Wescoat; three brothers Harrison Wescoat, Henry “Hank” Wescoat, Carl Wescoat and one sister Charlotte Coulter.

Private interment will take place at Woodlawn Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the First Methodist Church, 302 W. Walnut Street, Titusville, PA 16354, or to Woodlawn Cemetery 892 W. Spring St. Titusville, PA 16354.

LIFE AND TIMES OF BIG JIM

Jim Wescoat PHS ’52, Life and Times

By Ron Wig ‘77

I had the pleasure to spend time with Jim Wescoat, PHS ’52, over the course of a few days. Part of the time was spent at my home in Hydetown and one morning at Jim’s house on Campbell Road here in Titusville. I have known Jim for many years with his big genuine smile, seemingly permanent upon his face, easygoing demeanor, and a bear paw grip that lets you know he truly is glad to see you. Jim’s son, Mark Wescoat ’77 and I went to school together, played football on the line, and remain friends to this day. Knowing both men for a long time, it is easy for me to say they are cut from the same cloth and both realize that this is something to be very proud of. At the beginning of our talk, I hit upon a theme that dominated Jim’s thoughts: Jim was a proud American veteran, grateful for the era he has lived in and thankful for the opportunities and adventures he has had over the years with his friends and family.

Jim was born in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, three miles outside of Pleasantville on Route 36 toward Tionesta on January 15, 1932. Jim was the second child born to Herbert and Mary Twombly Wescoat. Jim’s older sister, Charlotte, younger brothers Hank, Harrison ’54, and Carl rounded  out the  family.  They lived  in  a section  of a  famous  Pithole  landmark named  the Temperance House that had been moved toward Pleasantville. This structure was originally a three-section hotel built at Pithole to house people who were developing Pithole during its infamous and short-lived oil boom. Jim tells of his mother, Mary, who contracted polio at one and a half years old and had to be pulled in a wagon to school in warm weather and on a sled in the winter months by other school children. Her disability did not prevent her from caring for the family to the best of her ability in a very poor, depression era setting. Jim’s dad, Herbert, made a living at this time by cutting wood and hauling it with a horse and wagon. The wood he cut was used for grape posts in the grape arbors in North East and for mine posts in southern Pennsylvania and West Virginia. At that time, light trucks and the railroad transported the posts to their final destination. Jim walked to the Terrill Farm School, a one-room school house about a mile and a half from home. The school had about 18-20 students in multiple grades. Jim had two pair of bib overalls, one chamois shirt, a pair of shoes, and a pair of slip-on rubber boots. Jim said choosing what to wear each day was no problem at all! He did not have a warm coat until many years later. There was no electric in his home, and they had kerosene lamps and lanterns. The thought of kerosene brought up a memory Jim had when the entire school had two outbreaks of lice, and the children had to dunk their heads in a kerosene bucket to get rid of them.

When Jim was 8 years old, the entire family loaded up the wagon with their household, hitched up the horse and moved cross country to Carsonville. Herbert had taken a new job working on an oil lease and operating the power plant for the owners, Stan Bayless and Lesser Levi. The house they moved into is now called the “Half-Way Camp.” It was wartime and life continued to be hard. There were only six families and a small church in Carsonville at that time. All of the families were poor and lived off the land. Meat for the table included pan-fried rabbit, squirrel pot pie, coon and baked woodchuck. It was at this point when Jim kind of tilted his head, with a little gleam in his eye when he said, “That ole woodchuck, Punxsutawney Phil wouldn’t have stood a chance around our house.” They had a garden and his mom always baked homemade bread when the ingredients were available. Bruce Meabon had the service station in Pleasantville and ran the school bus through Carsonville to take the kids in to school. Bruce was revered for many reasons, but in particular with the kids who were spared the long hike to and from school. Jim understandably choked up when he told of his mother crying for 3 days when the family received

word of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor that took the life his uncle, Robert, a sailor on the

USS Arizona. Jim moved on to an unrelated topic and mentioned that the first family auto was a

13-year old 1929 Model A Ford that they purchased from Jake Phillips who had a Teroplane

Dealership in Titusville.

As we said earlier, Jim’s dad worked the oil lease for $35 every two weeks. Jim was a strong boy of 11-12 and worked along with his dad for $0.12 cents an hour. The oil wells in the Carsonville area were drilled to a depth of 650 feet to hit the most productive 2nd oil sand. The two best, if not the only drilling rigs, were either a Star or a Wolfe machine. The wells of this period were shot with nitroglycerin to open up a pocket in the sands at the bottom of the well to allow the oil to flow into the shaft for pumping. Jim recounted a story of meeting with Fred Burt who drove the Nitro truck for Otto Cupler and shot the wells on the Bayless-Levi lease. This particular day, Herb and Jim, now 13, met Fred on a lease road about a quarter mile from the well to be shot. Fred asked Herb if Jim was old enough to be trusted with the nitro, and he said he was. The well was over a quarter mile off the lease road near a swampy patch of land. The light metal torpedo was about one-inch smaller in diameter than the 6 ¼ casing and was taken to the well. The two men and Jim walked back to the nitro truck, and Fred proceeded to take out 6 containers of nitro from their padded pockets, each holding 2 ½ gallons. They each carried two nitro containers over rod lines and pipelines the quarter mile distance to the well. The torpedo was rigged over the well so that Fred could pour all of the containers into the torpedo, hook up the fuse line, and let it down the full distance of the 650-foot shaft. After lighting the fuse, the important element was to determine which way was up-wind and run like H.E. double hockey sticks (LL) 150 yards away from the explosion.

When the torpedo ignited, it created a loud but muffled “thud” and the ground shook like an earthquake. The well blew shale and metal shards 60 to 80 feet in the air. It just struck me that I get funny looks and a bit of rebellion from my boys when I ask them to take out the garbage. I can’t imagine if I asked them to carry 5 gallons of nitroglycerin through a swamp! Back to 1945 – Herb and Jim traveled to Titusville to the Pipe and Supply store owned by Mr. Levi to pick up their pay every two weeks. Mr. Levi “took a liking” to Jim and would often give him a quarter to get ice cream or candy for the trip home. On one occasion, Lesser Levi put a quarter-sized solid gold coin in his hand which was quickly retrieved and replaced by the customary quarter. Jim said, “Can you imagine what a gold coin like that would be worth today?” He had a big, open-mouthed smile and raised his eyebrows the way only Jim can do it! My guess would be about $2,400 in today’s dollars (2016).

All of the Wescoat children had dyslexia to one degree or another. Jim said that Carl was hit the worst with it but in those days it wasn’t diagnosed, so consequently, they all struggled with their school work. Jim failed two grades in grade school. One of the years, Jim missed 35 days of school because he was the oldest child at home and Mary, his crippled mother, had fallen on the ice. Dr. Stewart ordered that she remain flat her back for three months. All of her care and that of the younger children was Jim’s responsibility while his dad worked long hours on the oil lease. Mary passed in 1950 at the Oil City Hospital at 45 years of age. The only phone in Carsonville at the time belonged to Oscar Carson who received word of Mary’s death and drove to the Wescoat house at 3 a.m. to deliver the news. Things were hard, but a sense of community and helping your neighbor was very important to most people of the time.

One year later, Herb married Beatrice Emerson from Emerson Hill in Grand Valley and moved her into the house with the four remaining boys at home. Charlotte, the oldest sister had left home and married Curtis Coulter. Coincidently, Beatrice was also crippled. It is best to say at this point

that it was not a smooth or happy transition when Hurricane Beatrice blew into town! One evening after basketball practice, it is rumored that Jim and Hank took a 5-cell flashlight and a .22 rifle and jacklit a deer to put meat on the table. It took all the family could muster to keep Beatrice from turning the boys in. Shortly thereafter, Jim moved in with his cousin, Red Wescoat, in Pleasantville, and his younger brother Carl moved in with their sister, Charlotte. Hank and Harrison remained at home and were made to attend the Nazarene Church.

Jim met his first wife, Winifred Harvey ’54 at a Pleasantville baseball game when he was 17. Anna Covell PHS ’53 Sampson brought her friend from Titusville and asked her if she wanted to meet Jim who was the 3rd baseman for Bill Sparks’ team. Jim graduated from Pleasantville High School in 1952 and was drafted into the U.S. Army, 2nd Infantry in 1952. Jim was a BAR rifleman in Korea. He was later assigned to the motor pool after breaking multiple bones in an accident in the field. He came home in 1954, married Winifred, and returned to Fort Meade to finish out his service. As they say, the rest is history. Wini had two older brothers, Mark and Ronnie Harvey, who became fast friends when Jim and Winifred married. Winifred passed in 1956 following the birth of their only son, Brad ’74. About a year later, Jim met Marge Burdick ’49 at Trans Penn/Skat Oil Company. Jim asked her on a date. Marge said she would let him know. After counseling her mother, Marge said yes and was up for the challenge of a ready-made family. They grew the family to include Mark ’77, Dan ’79, Tim ’83 and Jim ’83. Jim said after Mark and Dan they were trying for a girl when they got Tim and Jim. Jim had that signature grin and said, “When they start coming in doubles, it is time to shut that down.”

Jim’s working career has always been automotive and mechanically related with a brief stint at Cyclops. Jim and Harrison bought the Emblem Service Station where Perkins (now Taco Bell) is located on East Spring Street. Later, he bought out Harrison and purchased a machine shop and operated an automotive repair shop on West Central Avenue, which was the former site of Bob Cron’s Chrysler Dealership, now the Northwest Savings drive-thru. He makes sure to tell me that Marge was the brains behind the business, and he was the muscle. Jim sold the business and retired in 1994.

Jim has had many adventures with friends and family in Canada and Alaska where he has hunted for moose and fished for walleye. He speaks with a tone of reverence for the camp in Colorado where various hunts with his boys flip through his mind like turning the pages of a cherished family picture album. Jim was quick to say how proud he is of his boys and recalled following all of their athletic careers in football and wrestling at THS. He spoke fondly of the long-lasting friendships forged in numerous wrestling gyms around the state. Jim’s life is full with his sons, daughters-in- law, and grandchildren that allow him to reflect with pride on what he, Wini, and Marge got started. I’m sure that the boys could add several more pages of stories involving ‘Big Jim’ and hopefully they will add to what has been written, but I am going to end with a story from his cousin, and my mother-in-law, Peggy Hopkins PHS ’56 Logsdon.

Peg said she recalls coming out of the Pleasantville School one afternoon to see a boy on a large horse riding into the school yard. As they say, he cut a striking figure. It was Jim Wescoat who had ridden his horse from home to pick up his diploma at the school. He was met with yelling and some cross words from the school principal, Mr. Iego, to remove this beast from the school yard. Well, Jim did exactly that! He wheeled his horse out of the yard and rode through the open front doors of the school, down the hallway and out the back. What a sight! I don’t think he picked up his diploma that day! Happy Trails, Jim!

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