A legacy as bright as dawn

CLARKS SUMMIT — Whether it was from her exceptionally friendly service that she provided through her restaurant or her charitable contributions, the community well remembers the late Dawn Soboleski. She was known for having a big heart despite her small stature. Owner of the popular town diner, Sunrise Cafe, she always treated all of her customers like family and made the restaurant the ‘community center’ it is today.

“She was welcoming to everybody,” said customer Nancy Baldwin. “Her business became a community center because of her personality and her generosity. We need more people like Dawn.”

Many customers recall how Dawn remembers names of everyone who set foot in the dining establishment. They knew how accommodating she was to them as well.

“Anything you wanted to eat here, if she didn’t have it that day, she would get it the next day,” said regular customer Bone, who has been dining at Sunrise Cafe every day with his two friends Pepper and Mr. Kane for the last fifteen years.

Pepper remembers Dawn having a customer appreciation day by giving a free buffet every year.

“She (Dawn) appreciated the fact that they (customers) would come here all the time,” he said.

Pepper recalled when the building was a bakery and prior to that, a place that repaired horse carriages and harnesses.

Bone, Pepper, and Mr. Kane eat at Sunrise Cafe every day.

“We’re the reason other people come here because they want to see if we’re still here,” Bone quipped.

The trio loved when Dawn would bring a basket of baked goods to her customers to try for free. They also loved how she let customers stay as long as they wanted. They remembered how she catered people’s orders.

“She (Dawn) would make any food you wanted aside from what was on the menu,” said Mr. Kane.

Bob Kester, who owns J&B Printing with his brother Jack, has been coming to Sunrise Cafe in the morning for breakfast every day for the last eighteen years. He remembers how Dawn knew each of her customers by their first name and would remember people’s orders by memory. He remembers when Dawn would give away about 300 free meals for six to eight weeks during the pandemic. He also recalled how Dawn gave food donations to the fire company.

“She did what she thought what was the right thing to do,” she said. “If you told her ‘thank you’, that was enough. She didn’t look for the limelight.”

Bob always felt like family with the customers and employees at the restaurant.

“Everybody here knows everybody,” he said.

EMT/firefighter Jerry Hayes met Dawn through the Clarks Summit Fire Company. He recalled how Dawn had an appreciation for all of the people in public service whether they be policemen, firemen, or sanitation workers.

“If you come in and had a uniform, you got preferential treatment,” he said. “She always took into account that we were volunteering and that was something to her.”

Jerry became good friends with Dawn and would help her with maintenance at her house. Dawn would feed him breakfast and lunch every day.

“She (Dawn) thrived on being independent,” he said. “She didn’t like to ask anybody for anything. She didn’t expect anything from anybody, But if someone needed something or had a question, she was ‘mom’. We called her ‘mom’. She was always ‘mom’ to us.”

Jerry acknowledged the fact that Dawn knew everyone by name, what they ate, and what they drank. He enjoys the camaraderie of Sunrise Cafe. He compared eating at the restaurant to eating dinner at grandmother’s house.

“It wasn’t about eating,” he said. “It was about the experience.”

Jerry also remembers the support from the community from the benefit at the Clarks Summit firehouse for when she lost everything from a fire at her house in 2013.

“It was absolutely, positively jam-packed all afternoon,” he said about the benefit. “People were just waking into the door and getting raffle tickets.”

Dave Kinney, who has been a cook at Sunrise for thirteen years, knew of Dawn’s generosity to the community.

“She (Dawn) always constantly donated to the schools, to the churches, to the girl scouts, and boy scouts,” he said. “Whatever was going on, she always tried to help whenever she could.”

Dave mentioned that Dawn also gave scouts a free breakfast and hot chocolate to the scouts who would vend snacks outside the diner.

“She (Dawn) remembered them and took care of them,” he said. “She took care of her family, her employees, and her customers the same way.”

Suzi Ralston, who has been a cook for 20 years, was Dawn’s first employee. She started three years after Dawn owned the diner. They’ve been through ups and downs. They saw each other’s kids grow up.

“She wasn’t like a boss,” said Suzi, “She was more like a best friend.”

Dawn’s legacy of friendly, family-like service continues through Dawn’s two daughters – Stacey Soboleski and Jessica Soboleski, who currently own Sunrise Cafe. Stacey recalls Dawn being a waitress when the restaurant was called The Depot. She mentioned that after the owner of The Depot quit, he sold it to Dawn, who changed the name to Sunrise Cafe in 2001. She enjoyed working with her mother.

“My son Mason would come every morning before school and have breakfast with her,” said Stacey.

Stacey continues Dawn’s legacy of of talking with the customers and treating them like family.

There you have it. Dawn was well loved and missed by the community. She is in no shape or form forgotten.