Girardville Mourns Loss of 'Bernie' Chupasko, Beloved
Resident and Longtime Face of Tony's Lunch
- Bernie worked 70 years at Tony's Lunch, with her popularity far
exceeding its famous 'Screamer' burgers topped with marshmallow
fluff

GIRARDVILLE, Pa., February 29, 2024 – Iconic Girardville resident
Bernadine "Bernie" Leona Chupasko, 93, passed away peacefully at the
Schuylkill Center nursing home in Pottsville on Tuesday, February 27.
For several decades, she was the popular face of Tony's Lunch at 23 E.
Main Street. Even in retirement, she was constantly recognized most
everywhere she went in Schuylkill County.
A lifelong resident of Girardville, Bernie raised four children and was a
beloved member of the community, best known by local residents who
frequently dined at Tony's Lunch, where she worked for 70 years as a
waitress. She started helping there around age 14, when her family owned
the restaurant more than 40 years ago. Once it was sold, she decided to
stay on with the new owners.
In all of her years at Tony's Lunch, she only took one day of sick leave.
"Work is the best thing you can do," she once said. "When you are working,
you feel better and you live longer." That certainly turned out to be the case
with her.
At her retirement party in 2014, she was asked by the Pottsville Republican
Herald about the many customers who stopped by Tony's Lunch to wish
her well. Bernie said, I think its crazy. I didn't think to see anything like
this.
To Bernie, the best thing about working all those decades at Tonys Lunch
was the wonderful people she met and came to know.
Long after her retirement, she continued to enjoy celebrity status
throughout Schuylkill County. Everywhere she went, she was often recognized by former customers and greeted with warm hugs. She was so
well known that she was sometimes affectionately referred to as the
'defacto' mayor of Girardville, though she never held political ambitions.
Her entire life was devoted to her family.
On her 90 th birthday in 2021, the community wanted to let her know she
hadn't been forgotten. They paid tribute to her with a parade of vehicles
that rolled past her home on West Mahanoy Avenue, with horns honking
and sirens wailing as she flashed her famous smile and waved from her
balcony. The line included dozens of vehicles filled with family, friends, city
officials and, of course, her Tonys Lunch fans.
It was a touching moment, and one she'd never forget.
Her parents, Rose and Salvatore Ranieri, raised her on John Street, along
with sisters Louise, Marian, Elizabeth and Angeline.
Bernie is survived by her children, Roseanne, Michael and Joseph, and
grandchildren Sal, Matthew, and JoyAnne. She was predeceased by
another daughter, Margaret, in 2021. She also leaves behind several
cousins, nieces and nephews.
A devout Catholic, Bernie was a longtime member of the former St.
Joseph's Church and St. Vincent de Paul in Girardville.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, March 4th at 11 a.m. from St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church, Girardville with Rev. Giuseppe Esposito, pastor, as the celebrant.

Friends are invited to her viewing at the Thomas M. Sullivan Funeral Home, Girardville on Sunday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. and again on Monday morning from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.

Interment will be held in St. Joseph's Catholic Cemetery, Fountain Springs.

Sign the guest book, leave personal condolences and for further information please visit www.thomasmsullivanfuneralhome.com

Thomas M. Sullivan Funeral Home, Girardville, is in charge of arrangements.