State Rep. Frank Dermody's rise to become one of the most powerful politicians in Pennsylvania with his election last week as House Majority Whip began with a hardscrabble life in the tiny borough of Clarks Summit, east of Scranton.

His father, a demolition expert who worked in the coal mines, died at 41, leaving his mother to care for the couple's five children, all under the age of 12 (Mr. Dermody, then 7, was the middle child). His mother took a midnight job on the assembly line of Capitol Records, packaging discs by The Beatles, among others, leaving her 12-year-old daughter in charge of the brood overnight.

It was a struggle to make ends meet and Mrs. Dermody then took a job with the Social Security Administration, but she was a temporary employee. She then found work with the state Department of Transportation that finally provided her with medical and other benefits.

"We didn't know we were poor," Mr. Dermody, D-Oakmont, said Friday as he was traveling across state to his Oakmont home, making calls to legislative members in the wake of his election to the third-highest Democratic post in the Legislature. "We were fine. She was able to somehow put it all together. As kids, we did fine."

Indeed, they did. All of the children have college degrees. Mr. Dermody, 58, said he and his siblings learned valuable lessons from their mother and the life they led.

"She taught us hard work pays off, that you need to have dedication and persistence," he said of his mother, who passed away two years ago at the age of 89. "She was amazing. She taught us if things go wrong to never get discouraged.

"She never indicated there were any problems. She said things would be OK. If you work hard, it will work out and she did and we did."

Those life lessons should come in handy for Mr. Dermody in his new role, replacing state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, who vacated the leadership position Tuesday after being charged in the government corruption scandal that has become known as Bonusgate and involves allegations of using public resources to run political campaigns.

He acknowledged he has his work cut out for him, but pointed to his election as a sign that Harrisburg is changing from an old-boy's network. He prevailed against five other lawmakers, including Rep. Joe Preston of East Liberty, who was backed by caucus leaders.

"We need a new face and a new image," Mr. Dermody said of the Legislature. "We can't continue to project an image painted by these investigations and indictments. Part of that is what happened in this election. Legislators wanted a new start."

He said he wants to win back the trust and respect of an electorate that is disgusted with a lack of essential business being conducted, such as passage of a state budget, as well as the fact legislators are being arrested for corruption.

"I think I can make a step to win it back. First and foremost we have to put the investigations and indictments behind us and then we need to do what we are supposed to do -- pass a budget and work on health care, jobs, economic growth, those issues that are important to Pennsylvanians.

"We have to act like grown ups. Both sides are involved in that. We have to govern, which is what the people of Pennsylvania expect us to do. There has to be compromise, we need to work together. I think I can play a role in that."

Bill Tierney, an insurance broker from Clarks Summit who was Mr. Dermody's classmate, football teammate and good friend at Abington Heights High School, said it took the Democratic caucus "way too long" to put his buddy into a major leadership position.

"He's a stand-up guy, ethical and smart," said Mr. Tierney, an insurance broker who remains in touch with his lifelong friend. "That seems to be lacking these days. He's always been very, very bright. He's book-smart but street-smart as well. He has common sense, a lot of that. He's honest and hard-working.

"It can't be business as usual anymore. I know Frank knows that. He's a progressive guy. These guys have to clean up their act. You need guys like [Frank] to stand up and right the ship, so to speak."

State Senate Majority Whip Jane C. Orie, R-McCandless, Mr. Dermody's longtime friend, said via e-mail that he is someone who can work with both sides of the aisle.

"I have always found Frank to be engaging and willing to work with members of both political parties. I wish him the best of luck in his new leadership role."

Mr. Dermody, who played football, basketball and was on the track team in high school, was a star football linebacker and tight end. He received scholarship offers from Ivy League schools Columbia University, Dartmouth College and the University of Pennsylvania. He chose Columbia and played football there, graduating with a history degree.

He worked for five years in New York in sales for two different companies and used the money he earned plus fellowships to pay for law school at Indiana University. He met his future wife, Debra Hewetson, there and they married when they were both in the third year of their legal studies.

They moved to Pennsylvania, passed the bar exam and she clerked for a Commonwealth Court judge and Mr. Dermody worked as a public defender. Two years later, Mrs. Dermody got a job clerking for a judge of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and Mr. Dermody joined the Allegheny County district attorney's office, where he worked as an assistant district attorney for six years.

During that time, he was appointed by Gov. Bob Casey to fill in as a district judge in Oakmont, which he did for seven months. He went back to the district attorney's office for a year and then ran for state representative, getting elected in November 1990.

He has served as chairman of the Subcommittee on Courts in the Judiciary Committee, 1991-2006; chairman of the Allegheny County Democratic delegation, 1994-2006; caucus secretary, 2006-2008 and as chairman of the Urban Affairs Committee.

In December 1997, Mr. Dermody was among a half-dozen people who expressed interest in replacing Allegheny County District Attorney Bob Colville, who had won a seat as a Common Pleas Court judge. Eventually, the county's Common Pleas Court judges, meeting in secret, selected Stephen A. Zappala Jr.

Three years earlier, in 1994, Mr. Dermody headed a subcommittee that crafted the charges leading to the impeachment of former Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen. He was a key prosecutor in the impeachment trial that led to the removal of Mr. Larsen.

"For me it re-instilled and solidified the understanding that you have a very important position of public trust," he said of that experience. "We've got to do something to restore trust in the system now.

"I think we've made a step to get it back. I hope to play that role. I think I got a mandate from the caucus to do that."

He and his wife, who is a partner at Reed Smith law firm, are the parents of a son, Frank, 25, an attorney, and a daughter, Cara, 23, who works for the Jewish Healthcare Foundation in Pittsburgh.

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