Neighbors, friends show signs of support for the late Rep. Mike Reese

Mike Reese was thrilled that his small Mt. Pleasant Township community supported his goal of serving in the Legislature. During his initial run for office in 2008, the village of Brinkerton was full of his campaign signs.

“The first time he went through, he thought that was so cool that everybody had a sign,” said his mother, Joan Reese.

On Monday, Reese’s green-and-white campaign signs were back, but this time for a different kind of support. Reese, who in November was elected to his seventh term in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, died Saturday following an apparent brain aneurysm. He was 42.

The 12-year House veteran was set to be sworn in Tuesday to start his new term representing residents in parts of Westmoreland and Somerset counties in the 59th Legislative District. He first took office in 2009.

Using the campaign signs for support started with his aunt, Debra Yothers-Lucas, who lives across Brinkerton Road from his mother.

“I had to do something,” Yothers-Lucas said, holding back tears. “I wanted Joan to come home and see all the signs.”

Aunt Mary Lynn Yothers got the word out on social media, and the signs began popping up across Westmoreland County.

“It means the world,” Joan Reese said. “It means the world that so many people loved him, appreciated what he did and realized that he could do a lot more to help our community, our area, our state.”

She said her daughter-in-law, Angela, and three grandchildren appreciate the show of support. But it’s going beyond Reese’s campaign signs.

A group of his friends ordered 1,000 yard signs expressing gratitude for Reese’s work in the state House. They plan to distribute them to community members. Dawn Keefer of Norvelt said Monday that within about 12 hours of putting up a Facebook event seeking interest, there had been 500 requests for signs. She expects to hand them out this week with co-coordinators Brandon Caletri and Abbey Hutter.

“We just want to do something to show our support to the family,” Keefer said.

Requests continued rolling in Monday. They will be asking for donations for the Reese family when the signs are distributed.

“We’re just all amazed by the response,” Keefer said. “It just makes our hearts full.”

The signs are a great way for the community to show support in a reserved way, said Jordan Frei, Reese’s legislative and policy adviser. A GoFundMe online donation page that has since been removed was not associated with the family.

“The best thing about this sign effort is it allows for kind of a passive approach to pay homage,” Frei said.

Reese, who was unopposed in November’s election, contracted the coronavirus in early December. He was set to begin serving in a new role as the Republican Party majority caucus leader this year.

Flags stood at half-staff Monday outside his Norvelt office. The Norvelt fire department and EMS used their message boards to express gratitude to Reese.

“It’s so appreciated that people appreciate him,” Joan Reese said.