Feb 26, 2018 5 min read

After getting a teaching degree from California University of Pennsylvania in January 1974, Donald Zofchak found getting a position difficult.

Looking for a job, Zofchak talked with his cousin George Craig, a part-time South Strabane Township police officer, who told him the township was looking to hire more part-time officers.

Two months after graduating from college, he was hired. The rest is history, a long history.

After a career that started more than four decades ago, with most of it serving as South Strabane’s chief, the 66-year-old Zofchak will retire, effective Wednesday.

“I had taken some criminal justice courses and always had an interest in law enforcement,” Zofchak said. “I figured I’d see what happened, and it ended up that I liked it.”

Zofchak became a full-time officer a few months later, going to the police academy and becoming certified, although at that time it was not a mandate. When the captain left the force in 1978 to take another job, the township supervisors asked him if he wanted to be the chief.

“We had three other full-time officers and about seven part-timers,” said Zofchak, who at the time of the promotion was believed to be one of the youngest police chiefs in the state. “We worked out of one room in the municipal building. The janitor was our midnight dispatcher.”

The township looked a whole lot different 40 years ago. The Washington Mall was becoming a booming shopping area, with Kmart and Kroger on neighboring property now occupied by Home Depot. There were scattered businesses along Route 19, such as Route 19 Bowl. Northgate Plaza, which then housed Gee Bee, was just getting started.

“The mall was becoming a happening place, and we had to adapt to the gridlock of traffic,” Zofchak said. “A lot of stores that had had been in the city of Washington had moved out to the mall.”

The township has continued to adapt over the years with the construction of major shopping venues such as Tanger Outlets, Trinity Point, Strabane Square and Old Mill.

“We are probably second to none in making criminal arrests,” the chief said. “And about 80 percent of those are for retail thefts.”

The township’s population also has grown over the last four decades.

“Patton and Pancake were the two main residential areas, with other homes scattered throughout the township,” Zofchak said.

Windsor Highlands was one of the first housing plans to be built in the township, followed by many others over the years, he added.

The department has been active in community policing, with various programs like seat belt and child safety checks, drug awareness programs and going to the schools to talk with students.

“It is a delicate balance working with township officials, residents and retail establishments,” Zofchak said. “But I have been blessed with good officers. Working together, we have kept things on an even keel.”

Zofchak said he is proud of the good working relationship his department has with surrounding police departments, the sheriff’s office, state police, federal agencies, fire departments and emergency medical services.

Another source of pride for Zofchak is the new police building that was constructed several years ago. While nothing fancy, Zofchak said it is very functional.

Almost 10 years ago, Zofchak faced what he would not wish on any of his comrades when one of his officers was killed in the line of duty Nov. 4, 2008. Nathan Burnfield and two other officers were returning from Cal U. after three days of tactical training. The 27-year-old Burnfield stopped and was removing a tire and wheel that posed a traffic hazard on Interstate 70 westbound near the Bentleyville exit when he was struck and killed by a dump truck. The driver of the truck also died in the crash.

“I faced what no police chief wants to hear with the words ‘officer down,'” Zofchak said. “That feeling, as well as having to tell the family that their loved one is gone, is indescribable.”

Zofchak and his wife of 37 years, the former Beverly Sisul, have two children, Brett Matthew Zofchak and Sara Lynnae Zofchak Morgan. They also have two grandchildren, 6-year-old Brock Asher Morgan and 3-year-old Gracie Lynnae Morgan.

Drew Hilk, who joined the department as a part-time officer in 1995, became full time in 1996 and has been a sergeant for almost 11 years, will begin serving as chief Thursday.

Retirement will not stop Zofchak from remaining active in numerous organizations with which he is involved, including American Legion posts in Houston and Youngsville; VFW posts in Canonsburg and Tidioute; and the Fraternal Order of Bears. He also is a a board member and past president of Washington County Youth Baseball and board member and volunteer with Tournaments Inc., which runs the Pony League World Series. Zofchak also has done volunteer work with the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and March of Dimes.

Zofchak also is a member of Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, Washington County Chiefs of Police Association, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 22 and life member of Western Pennsylvania Chiefs Association.

“Having this job was an honor and a privilege. It has been a good run, and it is with mixed emotions that I leave,” Zofchak said. “It provided me the opportunity to raise a family as well as serve my community. Everyone needs a purpose in life.”

There will be a reception from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday for Zofchak and Ann Garner, who will retire next month after 30 ½ years as a bookkeeper, at South Strabane No. 2 fire hall, 172 Oak Spring Road.