An Allegheny Township couple are being fondly remembered after the shocking news of their death in a crash in Clarion County Thursday.
Rob and Cheryl Zanotto “were always together,” said Edna McCutcheon, of Bell Township.
McCutcheon didn’t know Rob Zanotto when they graduated from Kiski Area High School in 1971, but came to know him and his wife well when he took the lead for planning their 50th class reunion in 2021 at the Marconi Club in Leechburg.
“He and Cheryl have this infectious personality. They just loved everyone and everyone loved them,” she said. “Everywhere he was, she was. They just did everything together.”
The couple loved their Harley-Davidson trike motorcycle, McCutcheon said, and Cheryl Zanotto had posted on Facebook that they were heading north in Thursday’s good weather.
“They absolutely lived life to the fullest,” McCutcheon said. “They were an ideal couple.”
The Zanottos were about 70 miles north of of their home on Route 66 in Clarion County when they collided with an SUV.
According to state police, Bette McKenna, 86, of Frazer was driving the SUV north on Route 66 when she tried to turn left from Route 66 onto Tylersburg Road in Farmington Township. She pulled in front of the Zanotto’s southbound motorcycle, and they hit head-on.
Rob Zanotto, 71, who was driving the motorcycle, was not wearing a helmet and died at the scene, state police said. Cheryl Zanotto, 66, who was wearing a helmet, was taken to a hospital, where she died.
McKenna suffered a suspected minor injury but refused being taken to a hospital, state police said. Her husband, Dale McKenna, 85, was not injured. State police said the couple has a camp in Tionesta.
The Zanottos had visited a pizza shop and were on their way home when the crash happened, said Cedric Stopansky, 72, of Oklahoma Borough.
“When I heard about it, I couldn’t believe it,” Stopansky said.
Stopansky said he has known Rob Zanotto since they were in first grade together. They both retired from ATI’s shuttered Bagdad plant in Gilpin, which was where Rob met Cheryl.
They married in July 1981, McCutcheon said.
“He was one of the funniest guys I’ve known. He would do anything for anybody,” Stopansky said. “He never thought he was better than you. He treated everybody as an equal.”
Rob has a son from a previous marriage and two granddaughters, while Cheryl has three sisters, said Pam Carney, a friend of the couple from Allegheny Township.
Carney said she became friends with the Zanottos after meeting them while tending bar at the American Legion post in Vandergrift, where Rob was a member of the Sons of the American Legion.
The Zanottos enjoyed traveling, whether flying or cruising or just getting on their motorcycle and picking a direction, Carney said. The couple enjoyed camping, and Sara’s near Presque Isle State Park was their favorite place.
While Rob was a tinkerer who’d take things apart and fix them, Cheryl enjoyed yard work, evidenced by their beautifully landscaped yard, Carney said.
“Rob was the life of the party. Everybody loved him and loved Cheryl. They just liked to have fun,” Carney said. “And they were always together. They were inseparable. One would have not been good without the other, if the outcome was different. That was God’s plan.”
Carney said she and her boyfriend, Kevin Long, were supposed to go with them on the ride Thursday, but were not able because of work.
“We wish we would’ve, maybe it would have been different,” she said.
Charles Clever, the bar manager at the Vandergrift American Legion, said the Zanottos loved riding their motorcycle, and brought to events such as bike nights. They were always smiling, he said.
“They were absolutely spectacular people, the most kind, caring people we’ve ever had in here,” Clever said. “They were very kindhearted. They’d do anything in the world for you.
“It’s a sad day around here.”
Clawson Funeral Home in Leechburg is handling arrangements, Carney said. Visitation is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, with services at 11 a.m. Thursday.