The past 15 years of Robert Zollinger’s life would undoubtedly look different if it weren’t for the dream of his son, Jason.
Jason Zollinger envisioned running his own coffee roastery — a vision he put into motion through Cardinal Coffee Co. in 2010.
Inviting his dad to join in on the business venture, the father-son duo spent nearly a decade learning the ins and outs of coffee roasting and selling products wholesale out of their garage in Greensburg.
“He asked me ‘I’d like to start roasting my own coffee. Do you want to go in on a coffee roaster with me?’ That’s how it started,” said Robert, a Jeannette native who now lives in Greensburg.
“And I got to like it. I ended up retiring out of the construction business. You need something to do. You can’t just sit around.”
But when Jason was struck and killed by a car while riding his bicycle along Route 30 up Laurel Mountain in October 2019, Robert couldn’t let his 38-year-old son’s legacy fade away.
Now, with the help of his nephew, Charles Zollinger, Robert has expanded Cardinal Coffee, opening the doors of the company’s first cafe at the start of the new year.
Cafe owner expands son’s vision
Situated on Jeannette’s Lowry Avenue near DeNunzio’s Italian Restaurant, the cafe serves fresh cups of its specialty coffee and tea products — lattes, frappuccinos, chai, matcha, kombucha and regular drip coffee.
Happy Camper Cakes, a Hempfield-based bakery, stocks the cafe’s pastry cases with bear claws, cinnamon rolls and cookies.
“It just felt right,” said Charles, of Moon. “It’s just the next logical step.”
With Charles working full-time as an airline pilot, Robert oversees the company. They hired two baristas to run the cafe.
Following in Jason’s footsteps, Robert and Charles attended a four-day private coffee roasting class to hone their craft in 2020. As they continued selling their coffee to local restaurants and bakeries and filling online orders to the public, they purchased a trailer and converted it into a cafe on wheels to take to farmers markets, community events and private catering jobs.
They plan to continue selling their products to local businesses while running the cafe.
Cafe owner honors son
But Robert felt a pull to honor his son’s memory beyond the coffee cup.
For a month after Jason’s death, a “ghost bike” — covered in white paint — was placed in front of a tree along Route 30 in Ligonier Township, standing as a memorial and a reminder to motorists to watch for cyclists.
On the day of the installation, about 150 cyclists completed a 7-mile route from Laurel Mountain Ski Resort Lodge to the memorial and back.
The driver who struck Jason — Adam Ulrich, 45, of Boswell, Somerset County — was sentenced in July 2023 to serve five to 10 years in prison for homicide by vehicle while under the influence of a controlled substance, vehicular homicide, drunken driving and multiple traffic citations.
About four years ago, Robert worked with PennDOT to dedicate to his son a section of Linn Run Road — the street named after one of Jason’s favorite state parks. A sign marks the stretch of roadway, which Robert and Charles clear of litter twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall.
Robert also started an endowment in his son’s honor at Saint Vincent College in Unity — Jason’s alma mater.
Established a month after Jason’s death, the endowment has funded nearly $11,000 in scholarships for two students seeking financial aid, according to spokesperson Rob Biertempfel.
“It’s just something to give back to (the) college and do it in his name,” Robert Zollinger said.
Cardinal Coffee Co. is located at 820 Lowry Ave. in Jeannette. The cafe is open from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
