Penn State Shenango mourns the passing of philanthropist Paul Chadderton

SHARON, Pa. - Penn State Shenango is mourning Penn State Honorary Alumni Award recipient, local business owner, and philanthropist Paul Chadderton. He passed away on Jan. 9 at Loudon Hospital in Leesburg, Virginia, at the age of 92.

Chadderton was the former owner and CEO of Chadderton Trucking Inc. located in Sharon. Along with his wife, Eleanor, Chadderton was a longtime supporter of the Penn State Shenango campus for more than 40 years, beginning with the donation of the former Cable Television Company building to the campus. This building, which was originally used as Shenango's engineering building, was later renamed the Chadderton Laboratory, and it is now home to the realistic in-home and care facility lab, sensory classroom, and faculty offices for the occupational therapy assistant associate degree program.

Additional gifts to the campus from the couple include funds to help renovate Sharon Hall, Lecture Hall, and the auditorium, as well as support that enabled students to attend an interdisciplinary spring break trip to Peru in 2011.

The couple's generosity established the Paul and Eleanor Chadderton Scholarship, which is awarded to students enrolled in or entering the business baccalaureate degree program at Shenango. Following Eleanor's passing in 2016, Paul committed $100,000 to Penn State Shenango to create the Paul and Eleanor Chadderton Trustee Scholarship in 2017. Students with financial need who attend Penn State Shenango have been recipients of these scholarships ever since.

"I had the pleasure of visiting Paul last summer prior to the campus' 60th anniversary celebration. He reiterated his love for the campus and his desire to help students, simply because he understood the value of doing so for the larger community," said Frank Gargiulo, director of development at Penn State Shenango. "Paul has left an indelible mark on the Shenango campus, its students, and the Shenango Valley as a whole."

Paul also served as a member of the Penn State Shenango Advisory Board and was co-chair of the Development Board. As a testament to his service and philanthropy, he received the Penn State Honorary Alumni Award in 2008.

In a previous interview, Chadderton stressed the importance of education for students who want to be competitive in an evolving job market. He said, "Today kids need more education than when I was young, and it's only getting harder for them to find the money to afford it. I'm just trying to do whatever I can to help."