Joseph Parker Dando (January 14, 1883[1] – December 6, 1954) was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1937 to 1940.
[5] Dando, because he worked as a youngster in the mining industry, was unable to achieve much education, attending only the public schools.
He was quoted as saying “you graduated when you reached the fifth grade”[6] in a reference to the young boys working as slate pickers and at other jobs in the mining industry.
This did not prevent Dando from a long history of public service, including as Tax Receiver of Schuylkill County, County Engineer and becoming a member of the School Board in Llewellyn for over 12 years.
In 1939, however, Dando was convicted of misusing WPA labor at his private amusement park in Llewellyn and fined in lieu of a jail term.