Attorney Boop retiring after 48 years

Jun. 30—SUNBURY — Sunbury attorney Thomas E. Boop ends his career today after nearly 48 years.

Boop, 73, of Upper Augusta Township, will merge his practice into the Sunbury law firm of Wiest, Muolo, Noon, Swinehart & Bathgate, located at 244 Market St., Sunbury. The building where Boop's law office was located at 106 Market St., Sunbury, has a potential buyer, the sale of which will be finalized later this year.

Boop's decision to retire was led by a number of factors. One of his corporate clients has a mandatory retirement policy and his wife retired in September 2021. Between him and his wife Donna, they have five adult children and 13 grandchildren between the ages of 15 and 1.

"I'd like to spend a little more time with them," he said. "I'm involved with farming and raising cattle. I like to go out west to hunt. I do turkey hunting in May. My health is still relatively good. A lot of things came together that maybe it was better a little too soon than a little too late."

Boop has worked in varied parts of the law for more than four and a half decades, including family law, child custody, divorce, real estate, agricultural cases, estate planning/administration, civil cases, criminal cases and as a municipal solicitor. He worked as an assistant district attorney for Northumberland County from 1976 to 1984. He tried more than 100 criminal and civil cases to a verdict, including two homicide cases, several homicide by vehicle cases and numerous burglary cases.

Boop is a former president of the Northumberland County Bar Association, a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Delegates, and a zone governor for the Pennsylvania Bar Association for three years. He is currently the chairman of the Northumberland County Bench Bar Committee.

Pursing the law

Boop grew up on his family's dairy farm outside Laurelton in western Union County, but decided in the eighth grade that he wanted to practice law. After graduating from Mifflinburg High School in 1967, Boop graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle in 1971 and then Dickinson Law School in 1974.

"I looked around at people that I thought were successful," he said. "They were either contractors, doctors or lawyers. Not being handy with tools, I quickly ruled out being a contractor. I didn't think I would be a successful doctor. I liked to read, I read a lot about lawyers. I watched Perry Mason on TV. It just seemed like something that fit my skill set and it worked out very well. I like to read, I like to write, I like to talk to people."

Boop came to work for Attorney Carl Rice in the summer of 1973 and came on full time on Aug. 1, 1974, at the age of 25, after passing the bar. Boop and law partner Joey Stroaska purchased the property in 1992, two years after Rice's death. Boop solely purchased it in 2001 after Stroaska left the firm.

"I was with Mr. Rice as my mentor for 16 years," said Boop. "I couldn't have asked for a better mentor. He was very patient, very capable. If you needed him, he was there to help you, but he didn't look over your shoulder all the time."

Rice had a "very good view of life and he taught me to do enough to win the case, but don't push the envelope," said Boop.

Boop was the prosecuting assistant district attorney in the homicide cases against Robert B. Cunningham in 1977, who was convicted in June 1978 of third-degree murder of Teresa Kifalo; and Anthony Brady in 1980, a 16-year-old who stabbed 57-year-old night watchman George Hoffman.

Boop also notes he was appointed by former state Rep. Russ Fairchild to a committee to evaluate what should happen to the state-owned mental health institution Laurelton Center in Hartley Township, which closed in 1998. Former Gov. Ed Rendell also appointed him to the Pennsylvania Game Commission Board from 2003 to 2011, serving as commissioner for eight years and as president of the statewide agency for two years. He has served on the board of directors for the Mifflinburg Bank and Trust Company in Mifflinburg since 1979, having served as the chairman for the past 11 years.

Boop said he has enjoyed working with clients, getting to know them and their families.

"I've had great clients in central Pennsylvania," said Boop. "I enjoy working with the people. They come in, talk to you, share their problems and ask for their advice. Sometimes I can be helpful. I enjoy that."

Merging with Sunbury firm

The law firm of Wiest, Muolo, Noon, Swinehart & Bathgate has five experienced partners and two current associates who can provide a much broader spectrum of legal services than Boop can provide as a sole practitioner, said Boop.

His 750 clients had the option of having their files sent to the new firm, having Boop's office shred their files or scheduling a time and date to pick up their paperwork in order to seek a new attorney. Boop's employees Diane Brosius, Jacque Kerstetter and Laurie Bingaman will transfer to the Muolo firm.

Attorney Bob Muolo, a fellow Dickinson College graduate, said Boop is "one of the best attorneys Northumberland County has ever had." Muolo said he looked at Boop as a mentor since Muolo came to the city in 1981.

"One of the first cases I ever had was in front of President Judge Peter Krehel. I was about a year out of law school and totally petrified," said Muolo. "Tom was the ADA. The (summary) case had to do with someone hunting over bait in deer season. At the conclusion of the testimony, we're called by Judge Krehel to the bench and he jokingly explained to Tom that he did everything he did and should have won the case, but he was going to find in my favor because it was my first case and you should always win your first case. Tom could not have been more gracious. Nowadays, there would have been a lot of attorneys upset over that."

Boop's employees will "fit in perfectly," said Muolo.

Agreement of sale in place

A portion of Boop's building that sits along Front and Market streets is considered by local historians to be the first building built in Sunbury in 1772 and one of the oldest non-residential structures still in use in Northumberland County. Additional structures were added in 1795.

On May 20, 1795, the executors of Tilghman's estate sold this lot to attorney Charles Hall. About the same time, Hall married Elizabeth Coleman, whose father Robert Coleman, of Cornwall Furnace, was one of the wealthiest men in the state. According to legend, Mr. Coleman ordered the construction of an addition to the home on the corner in 1795 and gave it to them as a wedding present in 1796.

The main building has been used continuously as a law office ever since, passing in ownership eventually to Rice. The original 1772 structure, which operated as residential for a period of time, is the law office of Sarah Stigerwalt-Egan. The 1795 three-floor structure is the law office of Boop, as well as the O'Connor Law Firm and the headquarters of the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper Association Inc. The second floor is residential.

"The building is under an agreement of sale and it's scheduled to close on or before Oct. 1," said Boop. "I'm not at liberty to disclose who the buyers are. the buyers are very much interested in the history of the building. I'm not sure it will be a law office, but I think the people in the Sunbury area will be generally be happy with the new buyers and what they will likely use the building for."