Mark Bilik moved to New Alexandria in 1982, and his first day there, a neighbor came to introduce himself.

He said he was Mayor Dan, and that he also was the town barber, the town notary and that he could perform weddings.

Mr. Bilik went inside and told his wife, Amy: "I think we moved into Petticoat Junction and I just met Sam Drucker."

He was referring to the television character who was the grocer, the mail man and a lot of other things on the show "Petticoat Junction."

The friendly neighbor was Daniel A. "Danny" Bonrisco, who would become his good friend and mentor.

On Monday at St. James Church in Salem Township, Mr. Bilik delivered the eulogy for a man who many called "Mr. New Alexandria."

Mr. Bonrisco, 88, died on Friday at Loyalhanna Care Center, in Latrobe.

"I never knew he had so many best friends," said his daughter, Jean Harr of Latrobe. "Everybody who came to the funeral said, 'He was my best friend, he was my best friend.' It was just amazing that so many people loved him."

Mr. Bonrisco grew up near Punxsutawney and served with the U.S. Navy aboard the U.S.S. James O'Hara, an attack transport that sailed in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans during World War II.

He met his future wife, Larrie, at a USO dance in New York City, and they married three days after he was honorably discharged. He brought her to Pennsylvania to visit family near New Alexandria and decided to stay.

They moved into an apartment on Main Street, then bought a two-story, red brick home, circa 1840, which is the oldest house in town. According to Derry Area Historical Society President John Matviya, the home was originally owned by Dr. J. W. Rugh, who had his medical practice in the same room where Mr. Bonrisco cut hair.

"You know the old stories about the barber and the doctor being the same person?" Mr. Matviya said. "That wasn't the case here, but it turned out to be a lot more than a barbershop."

Mr. Bonrisco was more than a businessman. "I served my country, and I wanted to serve my town," he said many times.

He was elected justice of the peace in 1952 and became a constable when the magisterial districts were established. A Democrat, he was elected mayor in 1977 and was re-elected every term until he retired in 2005, making him one of the longest-sitting mayors in Pennsylvania history.

It was said around town that you could go to Danny's to get your hair cut, transfer the title of your car and get married, all in one visit. And talk politics, too.

He cut hair in the room facing Main Street and took care of legal business in a crowded back room, where people transferred titles, lawmen filed documents, and countless people paid their fines. One time, it was George Reeves, television's Superman, who was nabbed speeding on his way to the Indiana County Fair.

"If you were getting your hair cut and some cop came in with someone with a speeding violation, Danny would go back there and take care of business," said Jim Aldridge, who got his hair cut there from when he was 10 or 11, until he got married in 1993. "You could be sitting there for a while with a cape on."

When couples came in with their marriage licenses, wanting to tie the knot right then and there, Mr. Bonrisco invariably lectured them about not being in such a hurry and, sometimes, his friends said, he even tried to talk them out of it. He also went out to weddings in formal and casual settings, once even climbing a tree to officiate in a tree house, and another time going to a hospital where the bride was in labor. Another couple wed on horseback.

"He took weddings very seriously and always tried to accommodate people," Mr. Bilik said. "One Saturday, he came to my door, all excited and out breath, asking me if I had a Hawaiian shirt. The wedding had a Hawaiian theme and he wanted to be part of it.

"I went to my closet and found a flowered shirt -- I don't even know why I had it. My wife asked me what Danny wanted and I said a Hawaiian shirt, and she didn't even ask why. That's the kind of character he was."

Local funeral director David Newhouse, who was in charge of Mr. Bonrisco's arrangements, came to New Alexandria in 1985.

"I hunted for the barber in town and he was the only one," he said. "He gave me an official U.S. Navy haircut with whitewalls around the ears.

"Did I want one of those haircuts? No, but that's how he cut hair. We became pretty good friends and he just loved to talk about the Navy."

The walls of Mr. Bonrisco's shop, office and hallways were filled with old photos of the ship he served on, and if you lingered long enough, he had other old pictures to show, ones from World War II, others from when he was young. Years later, when his hair was turning gray, Mrs. Harr said, he took a black marker and touched up his pictures so he could look younger.

"We laughed so hard when we found that out," she said.

Another funny story: One time a resident called him at 2 a.m. and asked for advice about a barking dog. Mr. Bonrisco said he would get back to him.

"So he called him back at 2 a.m. the next day with his answer," Mr. Bilik said.

That's the kind of sense of humor that he had.

Mr. Bonrisco was always singing and smiling, too, and, Mr. Bilik said, "You didn't have any choice but to be his friend. No one could pass him without him saying hello. He knew everybody in town, and he is partly responsible for getting me into politics.

"He encouraged me to run for council in 1985, and I went from door to door, and I still lost. Then a councilman left, and I was appointed."

Mr. Bilik later became magisterial district judge for New Alexandria, Derry Borough and Derry Township.

"He was constantly telling me stories about the old days and all the different characters in town, and about the Friday night poker games at Hutson's store," Mr. Bilik said.

The late Jimmy Hutson was a Main Street grocer who always wore a hat and an apron, and who sometimes sat outside the barbershop with Mr. Bonrisco, both watching traffic and people going by.

About six years ago, when the old mayor was slowing down, Mr. Bilik organized a recognition dinner for him at the New Alexandria Fireman's Club. Mr. Bonrisco was a lifetime member of the volunteer fire department.

"He was surprised and shocked that 200 people came," he said. "He was really touched that so many of the people in the town he loved came to see him and really appreciated what he had done. He genuinely loved the community."

According to Council President Bryan Werner, the borough will purchase a monument honoring Mr. Bonrisco and erect it on borough property near a tree that was planted last year for New Alexandria's 175th anniversary.

Mr. Bonrisco is survived by his wife of 65 years, who lives in Latrobe; their daughters, Mrs. Harr, Valerie Martin of San Antonio, Texas, and Shirl Merenda of Huntingdon; and a number of grandchildren and great grandchildren.

He was buried in Union Cemetery, across Route 22.

"He is on the hill, looking right down at New Alexandria, the town he loved so much," Mrs. Harr said.

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