On April 1, Frank DeLuca Jr. will celebrate 60 years at the business where he started loading trucks at 19 years old. Now 79, DeLuca is the owner of Reliable Lumber and Supply in New Castle, Penn. The New Castle News reports that DeLuca has worked at the lumberyard continuously for 60 years except for a six month stint in the National Guard. He has no plans to retire, the paper says.
“Our main competition is the economy,” he told the News. If housing is booming, then so is the lumber business. He said that he believes that the economy is improving, noting that last year his lumberyard provided lumber for 16 homes, as opposed to just four the year before.
DeLuca’s children, Jackie and Frank III, are partners and will some day take over the business, he said.