Veteran and First Responder Awarded With a Free Roof

By Colin Sheehan, RCS Reporter.  

Deserving community member receives a much-needed new roof. 

Joe Oberholtzer II has been living in his Lower Pottsgrove, Pennsylvania home for over ten years and had patched his roof too many times to count throughout the years. Oberholtzer is a retired Army sergeant and Montgomery County first responder. When he heard he was the recipient of Rutter Roofing of Malvern’s free roof giveaway for veterans, he knew his roof patching days would finally be over.  

“I tried to do some things to fix it but I can only do so much. I knew I was going to have to hire someone or take a week vacation to do it. This came at a really opportune time,” Oberholtzer told a reporter from The Mercury.  

Oberholtzer first noticed problems in 2018 when water began to leak from his dining room ceiling. He attempted to make the repair himself and noticed the shingles were laid incorrectly, causing the leakage. He and his wife Shannon Oberholtzer had been saving the money needed to purchase a new roof since 2018. Shannon is also a first responder and together they are raising four children. 

Pennsylvania roofing company, Rutter Roofing of Malvern installed a CertainTeed roof system and the project took about a day and a half. Tony Gemma, Oberholtzer’s father-in-law entered Oberholtzer into the second annual Memorial Day Giveaway. 

Jackie Daller, Rutter Roofing’s director of business development said, “We run this giveaway through our Facebook [page], and we created a nomination form on our website for anyone nominating to fill out. This year we judged the winning candidates based on military service and the depth of the reason for nomination.” 

To help pick a deserving candidate, the company asked last year’s winner, retired Army sergeant and Vietnam War veteran Dave Garder for help in choosing this year’s recipient.   

“It's always tough selecting a winner when we feel that all veterans are deserving of being honored,” Daller said. Oberholtzer was selected for his lifetime of giving back to his community starting with being a lifeguard at 15, a firefighter at 16, and joining the military at 17.  

Oberholtzer shared his appreciation for Rutter Roofing’s generosity and looks forward to spending less time on his roof and more time with his family.  

“For us to be helped and be recognized is like all the pieces of our lives falling perfectly into place,” he said. 

Do you know of someone in the industry who is ‘doing good deeds’ in their community? Help us catch them at it. Send news and information to info@rooferscoffeeshop.com.