After my dad died in 2013, my sister and I visited Wilmerding, Pennsylvania, to meet old friends who were not able to attend the funeral. It’s almost eight years later, but I am passing through again to see if any progress has been made. Wilmerding is what my dad would describe as a “tough town.” Pretty bleak, a factory town in its heyday (Westinghouse Air Brakes), but not without hope.
I start at 112 State Street, where my father, the son of a Serbian Orthodox missionary (the Very Rev. Milovan P. Shundich), lived. It’s a modest house attached to the church, St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church, which was established here in 1904. My dad lived here from about 1934 to 1948, when he would graduate from Westinghouse Memorial High School (est. 1936). This is the place where young Nick, according to legend:
- Would sneak out the basement coal shoot to play football. His Serbian parents, (just off the boat from Montenegro and not particularly interested in sports) never saw him play, even as the captain of his high school team. It was football that would earn him a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati, where he also was a captain of the 1951 Sid Gillman-coached 10-1 team that went to the Sun Bowl (and lost) in El Paso.
- Had a knitting needle sword fight with his brother Pete. It did not end well, as their hands were impaled. Uncle Pete later told me he retaliated by lodging several metal BBs in my dad’s legs.
- Marched down the city streets one early morning in 1945, banging pots and pans to wake up the town – World World II was over!
The house and the church are covered in graffiti now, with broken stained glass windows and boarded up doors. The entire structure was recently condemned, so it’s much worse off than when I last saw it. In 2013, although unoccupied, the structure appeared to still be sound and it was being used for storage. Now, it’s just a dump, on the verge of collapse.
The beautiful former Westinghouse Memorial High School building, on the other hand, is the polar opposite. Unoccupied and for sale in 2013, the site is now the Westinghouse Arts Academy, a charter school. I walked in an open door and saw actual students. After asking how I got in the building (!), a maintenance man gave me a tour of the facility. It is spectacular, but will take millions and years to fully restore.
I went to the gym where my dad played basketball (“three points per game,” he used to say) and the auditorium where he, as the Class of ’48 President, no doubt gave a speech or two. The gym still has a fake logo (“Braden Central Wildcats”) at center court, from a movie filmed here.
I went downstairs to the locker room, which is in ruins. There are no team sports in charter schools – that’s against Pennsylvania state law – but I could imagine the weight room (in a cage!), lockers and showers through the rust and peeling paint.
A few blocks away is what’s left of the football field, which is now partially occupied by a community center. The concrete bleachers are completely overgrown. This is where, also according to legend, my dad – old number 20 –would go at halftime (instead of staying with the team). Why? Because he played trumpet in the marching band, and they performed at halftime. Did he play in his football uniform? I guess we’ll never know.
Back in the center square, near the World War I Memorial, I learn that the famed Westinghouse Castle (next door to the high school) will soon be an elementary school.
That makes me happy. Things are finally starting to look up in Wilmerding, boyhood home of Nicholas Shundich, my dad.
