FREEMANSBURG, Pa. — Of the hundreds of candidates who filed petitions last week to run for public office in the Lehigh Valley, none has the track record of Gerald C. Yob.
Yob has served 56 years as an elected official in Freemansburg — 44 as mayor and 12 before that on borough council.
Now the 95-year-old Democrat plans to seek an unprecedented 12th term as mayor.
"I know most of the people in town," he said. "Most of us get along pretty good. I like it.
“I’m getting things done. You know that park is named after me because I’ve done what I’ve said I was going to do.”
"She said, ‘Well what are you going to do then?’ And I said, ‘I’m going to run for mayor again.’”Freemansburg Mayor Gerald C. Yob
Officials dedicated the borough park in Yob’s name in 2019 when it looked like his time in public service was winding down.
Of course, that’s been a recurring theme through the years.
In a 2002 article in The Morning Call, as Yob was starting his sixth term as mayor, the then-72-year-old declared that because of his age it would be his last term.
“It is time to step aside and let someone else do the job,” he was quoted as saying. That was 23 years ago.
Yob chuckled at the mention of that.
“My wife [Doris] died over four years ago and my daughter says, ‘You want to come up and live with us?’" he said. "And I said, ‘Hell no. I don’t know anybody there, right?’
'So she said, ‘Well what are you going to do then?’ And I said, ‘I’m going to run for mayor again.’”
A historic run
The Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs doesn’t keep records on who’s held elected seats the longest, or their ages.
But chances are not many 95-year-olds have served as a borough mayor, nor for 44 straight years.
Even without his political longevity, tracing the arc of Yob’s life is like a living history lesson.
He was born in 1929, the year the stock market crash plunged America into the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover was president and Charlie Chaplin received honors at the first Academy Awards.
Yob and wife Doris were both 1948 graduates of Liberty High School in Bethlehem. They were married 69 years when Doris died in August 2020.
“Do I look like I’m slowing down? When I tell people I’m almost 96 they don’t believe me."Gerald C. Yob, Freemansburg mayor
A mechanic, he served as a motor sergeant with the U.S. Army in Germany during the Korean War, then worked about 20 years at auto dealerships and 19 years in the No. 2 Machine Shop at Bethlehem Steel.
He and Doris had a son and a daughter, both of whom are retired.
Yob said he’s in his office most days and enjoys the satisfaction that comes in completing jobs — whether it’s the nearly $1 million Main Street realignment project undertaken in 2005 or the current amphitheater construction project at the park that bears his name.
When state lawmakers approved gaming and Bethlehem got a casino license, Yob said, Freemansburg was able to tap into gaming revenues and expand its police headquarters.
“Do I look like I’m slowing down?” he said. “When I tell people I’m almost 96 they don’t believe me.
"The only ones who give me a hard time about my age is PennDOT. And I feel I’m a good driver.”
The next chapter
Based on nomination petitions filed with the Northampton County elections office, Yob will be uncontested in the Democratic primary on May 20.
Former county council candidate Will Power filed a petition for mayor on the Republican ticket, as well as for borough council — in both the four-year and two-year term seats.
Power didn't respond to a request for comment, but it's possible he and Yob square off in a contested mayor’s race in the November election.
If Yob wins, it would put him on track to turn 100 in the final year of his 12th term.
Might he go for No. 13? He's not ready to commit to that just yet.
"Depends how I feel at that time," he said with a laugh.
