Unity Township’s supervisors want to create a memorial dedicated to Vietnam veterans, and they’re planning to reach out to local veterans from that era to help in planning the monument.

They also intend to honor a particular Vietnam veteran and retired township maintenance man, the late Robert Evancho, by re-dedicating the township’s lakeside park in his name.

Supervisor Mike O’Barto announced the proposed tributes at this week’s board meeting.

He said the idea for honoring the veterans was sparked when the supervisors noticed a number of memorials in the township that focus attention on veterans from World War I, World War II and the Korean War, while such recognition for those who served in the Vietnam War is scarce.

“We looked around and didn’t see any Vietnam War memorials,” he said.”We believe there are many of our residents who have served in Vietnam.”

With the proposed project in its infancy, O’Barto said the design for the memorial is still to be determined, along with its exact location on township property along Beatty County Road. He noted the township already has a different type of patriotic installation there — the Eagles Landing flag retirement plaza that was developed as an Eagle Scout project.

O’Barto said the township will solicit donations to help fund the memorial as well as input from a committee of Vietnam veterans, yet to be identified.

It shouldn’t take as long to plan a ceremony to dedicate the township park in Evancho’s name.

Evancho retired in 2007, after serving the township for 15 years and previously working as a welder.

“He liked going to work,” said his wife, Eileen. “He never complained. He was the kind of person who made friends easily.

The supervisors agreed.

“We were very fortunate to have him as a resident as well as a township employee,” O’Barto said. “If you met him, you automatically liked him. He had an infectious smile, and he was always there if you needed him.”

Supervisors Chairman John Mylant noted Evancho returned to visit with Unity officials and staff after his retirement.

“He was a super guy,” Mylant said.

The township park is an appropriate place to remember Evancho, according to O’Barto.

“He cut the grass and maintained the area where a lot of our children and grandchildren play today,” he said.

Whenever the dedication ceremony occurs, it will provide an opportunity for many friends, who were unable to attend Evancho’s April 2020 funeral service during pandemic restrictions, to pay their respects.

An Army veteran who suffered a knee injury while serving in Vietnam, Evancho was a member of the Disabled American Veterans who was challenged by a variety of ailments later in life, his wife said.

He fought a second bout with cancer before succumbing, at 74, she said. Because the covid-19 pandemic, and related social distancing restrictions, were taking hold at that point, she said, “He could barely have 10 people at his funeral.”

“He never would believe it,” she said of the tribute the supervisors have planned for her husband.

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