Youngwood man was 'ahead of his time'

When Regis Klinchock saw something that needed changing, he changed it.

When he saw racing promoters making more money than racers, he became a racetrack operator.

When he got tired of paying high prices for fuel deliveries to his gas station, he founded his own trucking company.

When he decided to see the Pittsburgh Steelers play in the Super Bowl, he chartered a plane for family members and friends.

“There was never a dull moment in our family,” said his daughter, Barbara Trout.

“He was a wild character,” said his son, Regis Jr. “He was ahead of his time.”

Regis A. Klinchock of Youngwood died Friday, March 1, 2019, at Hempfield Manor. He was 82.

Born on Oct. 31, 1936, in Mt. Pleasant, he was the son of the late Steve and Mary Frances (Ungvarsky) Klinchock.

A stock car driver in the 1950s, he got involved in racing promotions in the ’60s. He operated the old Motordrome Speedway near Ruffs Dale from 1965-67. The following year, he operated South Penn Speedway in Everett.

“I remember going to the races, but I was really little,” Trout said. “My job was to pick up garbage after the races were over.”

Mr. Klinchock opened the Gasland 119 gas station and the Gasland Diner on Old Route 119 near Mt. Pleasant. The businesses closed when the four-lane highway was built.

He founded K&K Trucking as a way to deliver fuel more efficiently to the gas station. The business grew and became the in-house carrier for ABB circuit breakers, Trout said.

“My father was a unique man,” she said. “He actually drove cross-country delivering those circuit breakers. As he went, he made many friends through the years. He loved to travel.”

Mr. Klinchock’s children eventually took over the business and renamed it B&R Trucking.

A lifelong Steelers fan, he attended three of the team’s first four Super Bowl appearances in the 1970s, as well as Super Bowl XL in Detroit.

Trout remembers going one year when her father chartered a plane for family members and friends. “We landed right on the tarmac, loaded onto buses and rode to the stadium. When the game was over, they brought us right back to the tarmac, and we loaded onto the plane and came right back to Pittsburgh,” she said.

In 2006, he rented a motor home and drove with his son to Detroit for Super Bowl XL.

Mr. Klinchock was preceded in death by his wife, Annabelle (Hamborsky) Klinchock, and two siblings.

He is survived by his two children, Regis A. Klinchock and his wife, Cheri, of Mt. Pleasant, and Barbara A. Trout and Clay Schoaf; four grandchildren; and a great-grandson.

Friends may call from 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Galone-Caruso Funeral Home, 204 Eagle St., Mt. Pleasant. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Private interment will be at Visitation Parish Cemetery, Mt. Pleasant.