When Jean and Denny Silvis opened the Hancock Inn as newlyweds in 1973, it was a bit of a leap of faith for the couple.
At the time, Jean wasn’t even old enough to bartend at the Vandergrift pub.
After a run of more than five decades, the couple decided to close up shop and retire. Their last day of business was April 30.
“It’s been a good ride,” Denny said, “But it’s time to go.”
The pair, both Apollo natives, met while working at a bar owned by Jean’s father.
When they bought the pub, Denny said, there were far fewer businesses in Vandergrift.
“The proudest thing to me is (we) brought the clientele up from nothing,” he said.
Their relationships within the community were strengthened when Denny joined the volunteer fire department, Jean said.
“We got a lot of guys (in here) that were in the fire department,” she said. “They all gave us business.”
It’s those types of relationships that helped the couple through a difficult time, Jean said, reflecting on how a local softball team raised funds for them when their house was damaged by a tornado.
During their first five years in business, the couple basically ran the Hancock Inn themselves. But in 1978, when they bought the property the pub sits on, they began to hire employees.
Over the years, Jean said, they had many great employees who helped make the business what it was.
“(One bartender) would see a customer coming in the door. Their foot was in the door, and they (quickly) had a beer in the other hand,” Jean said.
The couple stepped away from bartending duties in the mid-2000s but still managed expenses and ordering.
For the Silvises, closing was a bittersweet decision, as they saw a decline in customers over the past few years.
“We just thought: You know, we’re not getting any younger, and stress has been a lot,” Jean said. “We’ve made a good living.”
The couple said they are looking forward to retirement, where they plan to stay put in their Vandergrift home and spend more time with their son and granddaughter, who live nearby.
They also are hopeful to find a buyer for the bar. They said anyone interested can contact their real estate agent, John Marzullo.
“We’ve had some people look at it, but nobody’s made an offer,” Jean said.
The Silvises chose not to pass the bar on to their children, Jean said, because the business can be stressful and demanding.
“We really don’t want them to be in the bar business,” she said. “There’s lots of times we didn’t get to go on vacation. … It was better for us to close.”
Jean said they are thankful for the hurdles they surpassed over time as bar owners, including the business surviving through the covid-19 pandemic.
“We look a little different now,” Jean said, “53 years later.”
