Obituaries published daily in the Butler Eagle usually list the accomplishments and interests of those who died.

These hundreds of obituaries, when taken as a whole, reveal a wide range of Butler County residents who led interesting lives and who accomplished a great deal.

Here is a snapshot of some of the people who died in 2013 and the unique contributions they made.

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Matthew S. Gogolin of Valencia died Feb. 7. He had been the mayor of Valencia for 12 years and was a life member and former fire chief of the Valencia Volunteer Fire Department. He had organized a grass-roots effort to restore the Valencia Community Park and chaired the 100th anniversary celebration for the borough.

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Herbert Edward “Herb” Elias of Butler died March 18. He was a teacher in the Butler School District for 41 years, retiring in 1993. He owned the Elias Driver Training School for 60 years. It is estimated that he taught more than 20,000 people to drive.

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Vera Parshook Scott of Butler died April 4. She taught Russian at Penn State University for the War Department after World War II. She was a secretary and translator at the American Embassy in Moscow.

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Peter Kipin of Butler died April 14. Following his passion to find alternatives to industrial landfills, he established Kipin Industries Inc. (KII) in 1978. KII developed solutions to clean industrial waste lagoons and convert hazardous by-products into usable fuels. He worked with the federal Environmental Protection Agency on fixing Superfund sites such as Exxon Fairmont Coke Works, where coke by-product waste was converted into power plant fuel and the property could be safely redeveloped.

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George D. Virostek of Cranberry Township died April 17. He was influential in the design of the Raging Rapids water ride at Kennywood Park, the Biosphere 2 science research facility in Tucson, Ariz., and the Mackinac Bridge in Mich.

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Louis J. Kasing Jr. of Cocoa Beach, Fla., formerly of Harmony, died May 29. He owned Kasing Auto Sales. He spoke before the U.S. Senate on behalf of the Chrysler dealers and the Chrysler Corp. about the Clean Air Act Amendments on May 18, 1977.

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Floyd Emanuel Rettig of Butler died June 22. He earned the nickname “Mr. Main Street,” as he could often be found near Main Street in Butler, fixing traffic lights and illuminating businesses with his electrical skills.

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Charles Chris “Chuck” Stevens of Cranberry Township died July 9. He was a college All-American defensive tackle. After college, he went to football camp with the Cleveland Browns. Leaving the Browns, Chuck went on to play semi-pro football for the Jersey City Jays and the Cleveland Hard-Hats.

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Donald R. “Duke” Ridgley of Zelienople died July 22. He moved his family to Montego Bay, Jamaica, in 1960, where he remodeled a hotel and opened a supper club with his brother, Dick. Their nightclub was famous for good food and entertainment. Duke and Dick hosted many celebrities and movie stars, including, Aristotle Onassis, Harvey Firestone, Lucille Ball, Vivien Leigh, Debbie Reynolds and Frankie Lane.

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Milroy A. “Bill” Waggett of Butler died July 29. He was a district scout executive for 23 years, then worked for the Butler County Court for 20 years as director of Juvenile Court. An Eagle Scout, he attended three National Scout Jamborees as a staff member and made three trips as director to the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.

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Mary Louise O'Toole of Boyers died Aug. 19. She was a professional singer in the late 1940s through the 1970s singing blues, dixie land and ballads. She played 46 Moose and other clubs and performed regularly at the Holiday House in Monroeville. She performed throughout the country, often in Cleveland, Erie and Maryland, and was called the “Modern Day Sophie Tucker.”

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Ray Soergel of Middlesex Township died Aug. 26. An accomplished marksman, he traveled with the U.S. Army shooting team in Europe and later taught young people and adults safe shooting practices. In 1962, he joined the Middlesex Township police, becoming chief and retiring in 1991. From the 1960s to the 1980s, he competed in shooting championships, winning the NRA National Pistol Competition twice in the 1970s and a gold medal in the Pennsylvania State Olympics in 1983.

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Violet E. (Corcoran) Andreas of Allison Park died Sept. 29. She was a cello player with the Butler County Symphony for 25 years, and she also sang in the Mendelssohn Choir.

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Jane Goehring Foreman of Butler died Nov. 6. She earned her degree in nursing from the Beaver Valley General Hospital in 1948. She had the privilege of working with Jonas Salk to develop the polio vaccine.

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Leland John Forcht II of Butler died Nov. 6. He was a drummer and played with many bands, including The Country Heirs, Maxx Packard, Midnight Flier, Hatties Yazoo, Rough Cut and Yazoo. He also played guitar and sang.

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Bette M. McAnany of Butler died Nov. 15. In 1971, she was appointed Butler County's first court administrator and served until retiring in 1995 after 41 years working for the county.

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Ruth E. Brown of Butler died Dec. 14. She was the first woman to run for Butler City Council.

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Marilyn E. (McCabe) Honeywill of Gibsonia died Dec. 16. In the late 1940s, she sang on KDKA Radio's Welcome Aboard. She represented Pittsburgh area Chevrolet dealers as the “Chevrolet Sweetheart” singing its famous “See the USA in Your Chevrolet” song. In the 1970s, Marilyn sang at Heinz Hall in the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera summer shows of “Camelot,” “Minnie's Boys,” and “Bye Bye Birdie.”