Register of wills conservator no stranger to Westmoreland courthouse

Jim Antoniono’s travels have taken him from Cold War-era Germany to the Westmoreland County Courthouse, through thousands of miles of mountain trails and into courtrooms and boardrooms.

After a more than a half- century, Antoniono, 78, of Unity, will return to his roots in county government when on Tuesday he begins work as the court-appointed conservator to oversee the Register of Wills office.

Common Pleas Judge Harry Smail Jr. this month appointed Antoniono to oversee the courthouse office that processes and files adoption records, guardianships, wills, estates and marriage licenses after finding three-term elected office holder Sherry Magretti Hamilton in contempt of court.

Hamilton was accused of failing to adequately run the office and was found guilty of violating two court orders that required her to meet specific filing deadlines and required functions. Two judges issued findings that determined the office had fallen behind on its work, was understaffed and without proper leadership.

“This has never been done before,” Antoniono said of his conservator role. “In some ways, it will take nowhere near the time I thought it would, or twice as long. I’m going to be there off and on, on a regular basis. When I’m not there, I’ll have someone monitoring the situation. The judge’s order gives me authority over the office, and I think I have enough authority and I’m going to be backed by the judges.”

He will be paid $170 an hour in his conservator’s role the judge’s said will continue indefinitely until the office is stabilized. Hamilton will continue to earn her nearly $90,000 a year salary, but will have no official oversight role in the office during Antoniono’s conservatorship.

For Antoniono, it’s a return to county government.

“He’s very comfortable in the courthouse,” said Greensburg attorney Ken Burkley, who said he spoke with Antoniono days before he was appointed as register of wills conservator. “I told him, anybody who wants to take that job is crazy, but he’s extremely competent and capable.”

‘He’s the perfect guy’

Antoniono began his professional career in the 1970s as the chief deputy to then newly elected Recorder of Deeds Jeanne Griffith. He served in that role as he attended law school and later spent nearly two decades as the office solicitor.

Antoniono was raised on a farm in Upper Burrell and, after graduating high school, enlisted in the Army, where in the mid-1960s he served as a driver in a special military liaison unit that spied on East German and Russian troops across the Berlin Wall.

“I was caught by Russians when I tried to sneak into a restricted areas. I couldn’t get out of the car and was held until the next day. They pulled my permit to drive into East Germany,” Antoniono said.

After a four-year Army career, Antoniono went to college at Penn State University and later obtained a master’s degree in political science from Rutgers University. He returned to Westmoreland County, where in 1972 he headed the local presidential campaign staff for South Dakota Sen. George McGovern in his unsuccessful bid to defeat President Richard Nixon.

While working on that campaign, Antoniono forged professional and political alliances that continue decades later.

Attorney Bill McCabe has been Antoniono’s law partner since 1986.

“I can tell you he is an extremely dedicated lawyer. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his clients, and there’s been times when he’s been in the office working at 3 a.m.,” McCabe said. “He just tenacious. He’s a problem-solver. Jim just knows how to figure things out. He’s the perfect guy for (that office), but I think he’s insane for doing it.”

‘I started with nothing’

A lifelong Democrat, Antoniono worked on various campaigns and twice ran for public office, once for a state House seat in the late 1970s and in 2009 for Westmoreland County district attorney. He lost both races. Antoniono continued his political activism and in recent years served as the Democratic Party’s local lawyer in voting challenge cases pushed by Republican candidates, including then-President Donald Trump following the 2020 election.

He continues to own a successful real estate business that has bought and sold properties in downtown Pittsburgh, Greensburg and throughout the region.

It’s that business that allowed he and his wife, Susan, in 2013 to donate $1 million to his alma mater, Penn State.

“Philanthropy is important and I truly believe in giving back. I started with nothing and built up what I have with hard work,” Antoniono said.

‘Not unusual for me’

Hard work for Antoniono extends to the outdoors. In 2013, at 68, he completed a five-month, 2,200 mile hike along the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine, a trek that raised about $10,000 for the Westmoreland County Bar Association. Last summer, for the fifth consecutive year, he became the oldest hiker to complete the 37-mile daylong Rachel Carson Trail Challenge.

A torn Achilles will prevent Antoniono from hiking during this summer’s challenge, but he said a return is a possibility for 2025.

“It’s amazing for anybody to do it, especially at his age,” said fellow hiker Dirk Matson, who like Antoniono has walked the Appalachian Trail and finished the Rachel Carson challenge. “He’s a machine, a physical anomaly. It’s not an easy thing to do at any age.”

Antoniono this spring was elected vice president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and is in line to head the organization in two years.

But for now, his focus will be on the register of wills office.

He said he will rely on his prior work for Griffith as well as his long legal career, which at times focused on wills and estates of clients.

“I spent 20-plus years working in a row office. That experience makes this very difficult job not unusual for me,” Antoniono said.