Sayre Borough

Henry Farley
Mayor

Henry G. Farley, Mayor of Sayre Borough, was elected to the Borough Council in 1997. Prior to that he served on the Sayre Borough Planning and Zoning Board having been appointed to that position in April of 1990. Farley served on the Borough Council for the next twenty years and served as president of the council in 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005 and from 2008 through 2017 totaling 14 years. He was elected to the position of Mayor on November 7, 2017 and continues in that role today. He is also a member of the Valley Joint Sewer Authority Board and the Sayre Health Care Authority.
Farley has lived in Sayre for 44 years. A Towanda Native and on his maternal side is a descendant of the Irish Canal Workers who came to Bradford County in 1836 he has devoted much of his adult life to the preservation of local history. He is a founding member, past president, and currently Secretary of the Sayre Historical Society. Farley played an integral part in securing a 99-year lease on the old Lehigh Valley Railroad Passenger Station from Sayre Borough for the Sayre Historical Society. In 2010 the Sayre Historical Society honored him by naming the newly renovated second floor community room “The Henry Farley Community Room.” He was 32-year trustee of the Bradford County Historical Society serving as president of that organization for 22 years. He stepped down from the board in 2023 the society said of him at that time “His contributions to the Bradford County Historical Society have been numerous and noteworthy, perhaps more than any other board member.” He was president of the Bradford County Historical Society during the multimillion-dollar conversion of the Old Bradford County Jail to the state-of-the-art museum now operating in the county seat. He also served as co-project director for the 900-page History of Bradford County produced by the Bradford County Historical Society in 1995, now known as the Farley/Hugo History of Bradford County, PA. He is a 27-year trustee and board president of the Sayre Public Library. He served on the boards of the Valley and Bradford County United Ways for 25 years and recently participated in the 40th anniversary celebration of the Bradford County United Way. He was president of the Valley United Way when the Central Bradford and The Valley United Way merged to form the very successful Bradford County United Way. He was the WATS/WAVR Individual of the Year in 2008 and was also the first person to receive the Bradford County Bar Association’s Carol Keeffe award in recognition of his commitment to the community that epitomized the contributions of David and Carol Keeffe. In 2011 he received the Legacy Award from the Legacy of the Valley Committee for his dedication and service to the community.
He worked for the Guthrie System in Sayre for 36 years. He served Guthrie as Director of Nutritional Services and had responsibility for all food services in the Guthrie System. During his career at Guthrie, he was responsible for the total renovation and additions to the 1934 hospital dietary department and a new cafeteria building in 1984-85 and before he retired, he was responsible for renovating and updating the new department when it was 25 years old. He retired from his position in June of 2013. He continues to serve the Guthrie System as Archivist and was instrumental in starting the archives for the Healthcare System. He was also part of a three-member team that compiled the Arcadia publications pictorial history of Guthrie done to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Guthrie Clinic and the 125th Anniversary of the Robert Packer Hospital in 2010. Professionally he was a 27-year member of the Bradford County International Management Council and was in the first group of managers in that organization to sit for and pass the James Madison University Certified Managers examinations. He was also a Certified Dietary Manager and a member of the American Association of Food Service Administrators. He was Named I.M.C. Manager of the Year in 1993 and was named Manager of the Quarter at Robert Packer Hospital twice.
Henry is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) a surname descendant of Captain Thomas Farley who fought in the Virginia Militia in the American Revolutionary War. He is also a member of the Jamestown Society having proved his lineage to Thomas and Jane Sefton Farley who came to the Colony from England in 1623.He is active in the Saint Agnes School Alumni Association in Towanda and has been recognized by the school with the Diocese of Scranton Distinguished Alumnus Award. He is a past board member of Penn York Opportunities in Athens, The American Heart Association, and the American Cancer Society, He is a 3rd degree member of Towanda Council 3915 Knights of Columbus and holds the honor of 4th degree in the Ancient Order of Hibernians in America. He is a member of the Sayre Elks and the Sons and Daughters of Italy in Sayre and the Sons of the American Legion Sayre PA. He is a member of the Catholic Community of the Epiphany in Sayre.
Henry writes a weekly “Looking Back” column for the Sayre Morning Times and is a frequent contributor to the local papers with articles of historic significance. He has written a column for St. Patrick’s Day for the Towanda Daily Review for more than 28 years. He also served as Editor of THE SETTLER the quarterly publication of the Bradford County Historical Society for 21 years and is currently co-editor of the Sayre Historical Society Quarterly Magazine.

Jessie Dekar
Council President

​Jessie was raised in Newark Valley, NY and has lived in the valley for the past 10 years. She graduated from the University of Buffalo with a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. Jessie has worked at Lockheed Martin in Owego, NY since 2011. She volunteers her time at various STEM events and at Snyder Elementary School.

Jessica Meyer
​Council Vice-President

Jessica was born and raised in Sayre and graduated from Sayre Area High School in 2006. She attended the University of Pittsburgh, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an Accounting focus. She currently works for the Guthrie Clinic in Audit and Compliance. In her spare time, she teaches dance at Pat Haggerty Dance Studio and yoga at Zen Den in Athens. She volunteers her time with the Animal Care Sanctuary in East Smithfield, helping to raise awareness and funds for the shelter.