Mildred Halko wasn't necessarily trying to blaze a trail for the feminist cause when she applied for a job as a streetcar driver in the mid-1940s -- a job previously done only by men.
All she was trying to do was to help support her family, said her son, Charles Halko, of Doylestown in Bucks County.
"She went through the training program and on Aug. 22, 1944, became the first woman streetcar driver in Pittsburgh," he said.
Mildred L. Halko, of Doylestown, formerly of Clairton, died Wednesday, July 4, 2007. She was 92.
"During World War II, there just weren't enough men around to fill all the jobs," Charles Halko said. "My mother was working as a lathe operator in a local steel mill when she applied to be a streetcar driver, which was a pretty good paying job at the time."
He said transit company officials at first were skeptical about whether his mother would be able to manipulate the lever necessary to put the streetcar in reverse, but she proved she had the strength to do the job.
"And, of course, there were guys who would get on the streetcar and say things like, 'Hey, girlie, you sure you can handle this thing?' But she never really complained. She took it all in stride."
Mrs. Halko took a medical disability retirement after 15 years of service when she injured her back by slipping on an icy Troy Hill sidewalk, her son said.
"I think she would have worked that job until retirement if she could have," Charles Halko said. "She had an outgoing personality and liked dealing with people. She enjoyed it a great deal."
Mrs. Halko was born Aug. 18, 1914, in West Brownsville in Washington County, to the late Blaz and Anna Dubrovnich Lourencevich.
She was a member of St. Clare of Assisi Parish and the Croatian Fraternal Union Lodge No. 248, both in Clairton.
In addition to her son, Mrs. Halko is survived by three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Coleman J. "Chuck" Halko.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. today in the A.J. Bekavac Funeral Home, 555 Fifth St., Clairton.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Wednesday in St. Clare of Assisi Parish's St. Joseph Church, Reed Street at Shaw Avenue, Clairton. Burial will be in Jefferson Memorial Park, Pleasant Hills.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, High Point Professional Building, 700 Horizon Circle, Suite 201, Chalfont, PA 18914.
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