Dippery reflects on his work as director

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Veterans Affairs

The Mifflin County Veterans Affairs office in the Mifflin County Courthouse has new hours effective March 8 - open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed noon to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office can be reached at 248-6421.

LEWISTOWN - On Friday, Mifflin County Veterans Affairs Director William Dippery retired after nearly 14 years of service.

This is not the first time Dippery has retired from a job, but he hopes that this time it sticks.

Dippery said he retired from the United States Air Force in 1975 as a senior master Sergeant after serving 20 years. From there, Dippery took up work at the Case New Holland plant in Belleville in 1976, taking early retirement in 1992.

"I kicked around for a year, got bored and took on some odd jobs here and there, and then I got this job," Dippery said as he continued to clean out his office and say good-bye to friends at the Mifflin County Courthouse.

"This has been a very good career ... After I leave here today and hand over my keys, she is in charge," Dippery said with a laugh, referring to his former clerk and now interim director Christine DeArment.

DeArment said she is excited to take over and looks forward to continuing to work with local veterans.

Dippery said he would hope that people give DeArment the same trust he received. He said he has many fond memories of working with veterans in Mifflin County and he will definitely miss the job.

"I hope that veterans have been pleased with what I have accomplished," he said.

When Dippery started working for veterans affairs, there were 823 case files - now the office has 2,342 records.

Dippery said there were many priorities in his office including helping elderly veterans and widows.

"I enjoyed going to nursing homes ... took the office to them, so to speak," Dippery said. "Widow claims are very important, so many veterans are dying every year, getting those benefits to (widows) has been a priority of mine."