Lebanon County mourns David ‘Chip’ Brightbill, whose leadership secured Governor Dick park and shaped region

The late former state Sen. David “Chip” Brightbill is being remembered for contributions to his state as a legislator, and particularly to Lebanon County where he was born and raised. 

Those who worked alongside Brightbill said he was a diligent public servant focused on improving the quality of life for all county residents. He died this week at 83.

Read More: David “Chip” Brightbill, former district attorney & state senate leader, dies at 83

From securing Clarence Schock Memorial Park at Governor Dick to saving Bordner’s Cabin to bringing home grants for infrastructure projects, including construction of the Lebanon Valley Expo Center, Brightbill always put the best interest of his constituents first, several individuals told LebTown on Thursday following public announcement of his passing.

The Brightbill Arena and Brightbill Barn at the Lebanon Valley Fairgrounds and Exposition Center are named after him for his role in securing critical funding for the complex. 

“He really cared about the expo center and making that happen so that it was a benefit to Lebanon County,” said Pat Kerwin, executive director of the Lebanon Valley Expo Center. 

Clarence Schock Memorial Park at Governor Dick

Several individuals pointed to Brightbill’s passion for Clarence Schock Memorial Park as his crowning lifetime achievement.

Former state Rep. Pete Zug, who served in the state House while Brightbill was a senator representing the 48th district, said he believed the park was one of the senator’s most noteworthy lasting legacies.

“We worked with the school district in Lancaster County (Donegal) to get the land so that it wouldn’t be developed and then it is right next to the rail trail, and he helped John Wengert do a lot with that project,” Zug said.

Not only did Brightbill secure the 1,110-acre park for the enjoyment of local residents in perpetuity, he also served on the park board from 2021 through the time of his death. Park manager Jedd Erdman agreed with Zug’s assessment about Brightbill’s legacy. 

“He was very instrumental in getting the park and he was very instrumental in getting the park’s environmental center built,” Erdman said, adding Brightbill was often seen hiking in the park or frequently visiting with office staff to ensure its ongoing success. “It was one of those things that Chip truly loved that park. It was in his backyard and he was in the park a lot. He did what he did for the love of the park and his love for Lebanon County.” 

In 1998, Donegal School Board turned over the park’s trust to the SICO Foundation and Lebanon County as co-trustees, and Brightbill assisted when Lebanon County took over as sole trustee in 2014. 

Read More: The sad story of the six-level “Tower House” that once stood atop Mt. Gretna’s Governor Dick

It was in the late 1990s, however, when the park’s future was in the balance that Brightbill’s influence played a major role in preventing the land from being sold, according to Erdman. 

“The school district was going to sell it to the Game Commission for $1 million, and Chip stepped in and said the trust was set up by Clarence Schock to prohibit hunting on the land,” Erdman said, noting that Chip was also considered the park’s historian by his fellow board members. “He wrote many articles about the park’s timeline and history and I have enough content to fill a book. He was the person who was instrumental in getting the park from Donegal School District for Lebanon County.”

Bordner’s Cabin

The park wasn’t Brightbill’s only contribution to outdoor recreational activities in the Lebanon Valley. 

County Commissioner Jo Ellen Litz immediately remembered Brightbill’s efforts to help save Bordner’s Cabin in Swatara State Park while she was the president of the Swatara Watershed Association.

“We were trying to save Bordner’s Cabin because the state parks were planning to rip it down and it would have been gone,” Litz said. “He called a special meeting in Harrisburg, and the meat of it is he had the secretaries (of DCNR and DEP) in attendance. … We sat down at this huge conference table, I told our story of the history and heritage and the secretaries listened intently and openly because our message never got to the top echelon. I do credit him (Brightbill) for saving Bordner’s Cabin because he was the top person in the Senate.”

Read More: How to visit Bordner’s Cabin at Swatara State Park [Photo Story]

Asked to provide one story of Brightbill’s achievements that resonates in his mind, commission chairman Mike Kuhn said he had so many to tell. 

“I always looked at Chip as one of the smartest people I ever met – no matter what the topic was,” Kuhn said, who added Brightbill’s many achievements were because he was someone who “got things done.” 

“The flood control project through the city of Lebanon, the canal that runs by the library and the YMCA and then East Elm Street and that channel, that funding was through the state and Chip Brightbill was instrumental in getting that done,” Kuhn said of Brightbill’s efforts to secure state funding to complete construction of the modernized Hazel Dike. (Hazel Dike, the Lebanon city infrastructure to manage the flow of the Quittapahilla Creek, dates back to the early 1900s; much of it was modernized following Hurricane Agnes in 1972 but the project wasn’t completed until Brightbill secured state funding in the late 1990s.)

Senate majority leader

Kuhn said that Brightbill’s service at the state level as Senate majority leader may never be achieved again by a local resident. 

“Bill Carpenter pointed out to me one time that we’ll never have the majority leader of the Pennsylvania Senate from Lebanon County ever again, I remembered being puzzled and asking why. He said, ‘Lebanon County is a small county and to rise to that level of authority and power within the state with larger counties and more influential people and senators from those areas, it’s unlikely that a small area like Lebanon County will have someone like that again who will be the majority leader,’” Kuhn said. 

Several individuals said Brightbill worked behind the scenes to secure funding, never seeking credit or the limelight.

“Many politicians welcome the publicity and I told Chip I don’t understand why you are not welcoming the publicity for what you did, and not getting any credit for it,” Kuhn said. “He said, ‘I don’t need any credit. I see what’s going on in Lebanon City and we’re losing the middle class.’ I can’t think of anyone who’s ever had more of an impact on Lebanon County than Chip.”

Lebanon County administrator Jamie Wolgemuth said his second professional job was working for Brightbill when he was a state senator. 

“He was someone who hired youth and mentored them,” Wolgemuth said. “He was a difficult and demanding boss but you were a better person for it. ‘The devil’s in the details’ is something we heard all the time. I am a stickler for grammar and spelling and that came from him because if we wrote a constituent letter going out under his signature, it was most likely coming back with red marks on it. Your goal was to get back a letter without red marks.”

“He was adamant about never wanting to have ‘I’ in his constituent letters. It looked like taking too much credit – ‘I did this, I did that,'” said Wolgemuth. “When communication letters were going out, he never wanted to see the word ‘I,’ and that’s something you learned quickly.

“So many things happened in this county and the 48th district that he represented and he never wanted the recognition. Some of that was because he was humble about it. No. 2, if you publicize what you’ve done and that’s publicized widely, if everything had his name on it, the line out of his door was going to be very long.” 

A political giant

“He was a political giant, transforming an office representing Lebanon County to becoming the second most powerful person in the state at that time,” Zug said. “It is a difficult office to obtain and what he was able to do with it once he got it was to the benefit of Lebanon County.”

Lebanon County Commissioner Bob Phillips echoed similar sentiments.

“I always viewed him as the consummate statesman and he always represented Lebanon County at a very high level throughout his career in public service,” Phillips said. “His five great children certainly reflect his success as a parent as well, and he was a very rounded individual who contributed greatly to the quality of life in Lebanon County.”

Brightbill is survived by his wife, Judge Donna Long Brightbill, and children David, Jon, Andrew, Christian, and Adam. Donna Long Brightbill was sworn in Jan. 2, 2024, as the first woman to serve on the county’s highest court in its 210-year history; Chip was by her side.

Mike Long, who worked in the Senate in the 1980s when Brightbill was elected as a senator and served as chairman of the Lebanon County Republican Committee at that time, said not only did Brightbill become his brother-in-law but also his best friend.

“I think Chip had more impact on Lebanon County in a positive way than any elected official in the last 50 years, which I know because I’ve been politically active for the past 50 years,” said Long, who also highlighted Brightbill’s landmark Brownfield legislation that helped turn abandoned sites into useful properties.

“The rails to trails, the expo center, and preserving the land at Governor Dick are just a few of his contributions. No one in my lifetime has had the same kind of impact that he did. He loved Lebanon County and its people dearly, second only to the love for his family.”