Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall Of Fame 2009 Inductees
Felton Brown, Sr.
Brown was am outstanding all-around athlete in high school who continued his interest in sandlot sports in the Mon Valley. He became legendary in the 1930s as possibly the best athlete of his era gracing the football fields, basketball courts, and baseball diamonds.
Brown, the first African-American appointed to a seat on the Monessen School Board, was born in North Belle Vernon, the son of Johnson L. and Mamie I. Brown on February 20, 1917. He died of a heart attack on January 31, 1974 in the locker room of the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Plant in Monessen.
A 1936 North Belle Vernon graduate, Brown was a standout football, basketball, and baseball player. An offensive guard, Brown was a member of the All-WPIAL Class B football squad.
After high school, he played semi-pro football for the Monessen Ravens and played several seasons of City League basketball with different local teams. In 1939 Brown was chosen as the Most Valuable Player of the Belle Vernon Community Basketball League. With the Ravens he became a placekicking specialist. In basketball at the age of 40 he completed his 21st City League season. That made Felton the “grand old man” of the circuit. During his career in the City League, Brown played on eight championship teams. He was a member of the famed Belle Vernon Wrens during the 1930s.
One of Brown’s greatest basketball thrills came in 1946 when he tossed in a fantastic 58 foot basket in the closing seconds at the Armory to give the Delaware Indians a win over the Ravens. Felton played in more than 900 basketball games during his career. In no less than 15 years his team participated in the playoffs.
Later high school athletes like Monessen’s Ben Jones, Carl Crawley, Fleming Mosely, and Ron Minnie remembered Mr. Felton as an inspiration willing to teach you so much about sports and about life. Ben Jones recalled, “the physique he had at age 50 with such natural athletic ability.”
Brown who married the former Ruby Christine Daniels of North Charleroi had three children, Felton, Jr., Karen, and Carlton.
Andrew G. Dzurinko
There was never any question that Andy would play football. That decision formed the cornerstone of a life of success as an athlete, coach, insurance executive, author, motivational speaker, and community leader. “Growing up in Monessen in those years, we were well aware of the tradition of excellence and success of the high school teams and others in the city,” Dzurinko said of the early and mid-1950s. “We couldn’t wait to play in the Midget League and then move on to junior high and high school. It was a way of life in Monessen and we wanted to be part of it.”
Andy is the son of Andrew and Anne Simon Dzurinko born in Monessen on June 26, 1943. Andy has two children Dara and Chris.
According to Andy, sports in Monessen, the Mon Valley and southwestern Pennsylvania offered “an outlet and in many cases a way out and an opportunity for a college scholarship, to play football and get an education.”
Dzurinko, a 1961graduate of Monessen High School, did write a personal chapter of achievement as a football player, but there were many other influences on his young life in the 1950s. He was an Eagle Scout. “My experiences as a Boy Scout were tremendous in developing a positive outlook on life and a determination to succeed,” Andy recalled.
Dzurinko got his first taste of organized football with the Washington entry in the Monessen Midget Football League. His experience with the team coached by the late Lloyd “Bucky” Lutes influenced and guided his entire gridiron career.
“There was an abundance of good backs in the league at that time - Ben Jones, Eric Crabtree, Nick Cullen, Philip Reed, Andy “Buzzy” Carrollo, Ron Hornack, Dave Bergstedt, and Ken DiGiacomo.” Dzurinko recalled. “I figured my best bet was to become a lineman.”
As a two-year starter at guard and defensive end at Monessen High, Dzurinko culminated his scholastic career by helping the Greyhounds win the Big 6 Conference championship in 1960. That was Joe Gladys’ first year at the MHS helm, and the Hounds posted a 9-1-0 record, the lone loss coming in the final game of the regular season as they were upset by McKeesport, 26-13. The setback knocked Monessen out of the WPIAL Class AA race, and Beaver Falls, led by quarterback Joe Namath and halfback Larry Hayden, was awarded the championship on the basis of the Garner Point System. Playing for Gladys was “an unforgettable experience,” Dzurinko said. He emphasizes that point in his book with a chapter appropriately titled, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
“Gladys was a true role model, a man who cared about players far beyond the football field,” Dzurinko recalled. “His demeanor was such that I don’t think he ever raised his voice, but we got the message. What I learned from him in high school has had a lasting influence on my personal development in all aspects of life. We have continued a longtime friendship.”
Dzurinko, a 5-10, 180-pounder, and teammates Bill Malinchak, Rich Yatchyshyn, Ken DiGiacomo, and Ben Jones were elected to the Big 6 Conference first team and Gladys was Coach of the Year. Jones, a junior, won what would be the first of back to back conference scoring titles. Post season honors for Andy included the Mon Valley Conference All-Star team, All-WPIAL, All-State recognition, and in 1961 he was the first Monessen player selected to play in the Big 33 All Star game in Hershey Stadium. As a starter for the West team in the mid-summer classic, Dzurinko helped his team roll to a 36-14 win over their East counterparts. The West defense, dominated by Dzurinko, Redstone’s Don Croftcheck, Brownsville’s Tom Kostelnik, Fort Cherry’s Marty Schottenheimer, McKeesport’s Bruce Brinkos and Aliquippa’s Matt Abrutina, limited the East to 84 yards rushing. Dzurinko and Kostelnik finished second in the balloting for MVP honors.
The Valley Independent sports editor, John Bunardzya noted that Dzurinko, who was headed for Bucknell University, was “considered too small by some colleges.” Bunardzya singled out his work at defensive end by writing, “he was a constant thorn in the side of the East ball-carriers, punters and passers, rushing them faster than some debutantes are rushed on Park Avenue.” Bunardzya also quoted Johnstown’s Dave Hart, an assistant coach with the West, as saying guard Dzurinko and center Kostelnik “were the two best linemen on the field.”
Dzurinko’s football career continued at Bucknell University, where he started as a guard and linebacker with the freshman team. Freshmen were not allowed to play varsity ball in those years, but Dzurinko made the transition to the varsity level with ease. Adding about 10 pounds to his frame, he started three years for the Bisons and as a senior in 1964 helped them win the Lambert Cup, a symbolic of Eastern small college football supremacy. Bucknell was 7-2-0 that season, and Dzurinko gained ECAC All-Eastern and Middle Atlantic Conference first team honors.
He also entered the military with the ROTC program at Bucknell and was commissioned a second lieutenant as he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. He served two years active duty with the U.S. Army Infantry Intelligence including a tour in Vietnam. “It was a natural thing for me to,” Dzurinko said of his military service. “My dad and his brothers and my mom’s brothers all served their country and I felt an obligation to follow in their footsteps. I’m proud to say I am a Vietnam veteran.”
Dzurinko resumed his education following his discharge from active duty, earning a Master of Education degree from the University of Pittsburgh. It was at Pitt where he began a coaching career as a graduate assistant with his former Big 33 coach, Dave Hart. He later coached at Moon High School and then at Williams College and Brown University before making his transition to the insurance profession in 1978. His stints at Williams and Brown included Little 3 and Ivy League conference championships, respectively. “Coaching was another positive experience in my life,” Andy recalled. “It was such a valuable opportunity to work with such coaches as Dave Hart, Rip Scherer, Bob O’Dell and John Anderson and to be associated with the young men who played at their schools. Those prepared me well for the rest of my life.”
Even though his playing and coaching days are long behind him, Dzurinko, who attended the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008, has attained a strong bond with athletes and athletics. He is the former executive director of the Arizona Governor’s Council on Health, Physical Fitness and Sports and has served 15 years as president of the Frank Kush Foundation
As a successful insurance executive, he is a chartered life underwriter (CLU) and chartered financial consultant (ChFC). He also has worked as director of training and regional vice president of agencies and has qualified for numerous professional awards.
Throughout his life Andy has kept a series of personal notes, stories, clippings and memories. His collection evolved into a book, The Power of Optimism, Insights to Personal and Professional Growth (Dragon Press), which is in its third printing. “I wrote the book to share my good fortune, experience and belief that most people want to associate and work with someone who has high standards, works and plays hard, respects others, maintains a sense of humor, and has a positive attitude. Dzurinko reiterated. “I didn’t set out to write a book,” Dzurinko said, “My life has consistently been blessed with opportunities to meet many wonderful people and develop lasting personal and business relationships. I felt a need to share those experiences with others…to help them understand the ‘Everybody’s Got to Feel Like Somebody’ principal. Each person wants to know that you see his or her individual value and respect his or her contribution. If you practice the ‘Everybody’ tenet and recognize the worth and values of others as well as of yourself, then all good things are possible.”
Fleming J. Mosely III Ed.D
A 1956 graduate of Monessen High School, Mosely excelled in football, boxing, and track and field. He helped the Monessen ninth grade team win the junior high WPIAL championship and the varsity team won two conference titles with Mosely. He also joined the Army reserves while in high school.
Mosely was one of four sons born to Fleming J. Mosely II and Leola Mosely-Grant.
His first taste of football success came as a starting guard on the undefeated Monessen Junior High team that won the Junior WPIAL championship in 1952. The late Dr. Henry Furio coached that squad. Mosely was a starting guard for three years at Monessen High School and earned All-Big Six Conference honors as a senior.
“Fleming was always an excellent lineman, a great blocker who backed away from no one,” remembered teammate Carl Crawley. “He was as tough as they come and a very intelligent player. I was always glad we were on the same team and not opponents.”
Mosely began boxing with the Monessen Ravens team in 1954. Two years later, the fighters moved to the Iowa School Annex and became the Monessen Athletic Club Boxing team under the training and management of Swats Adamson and Dr. Hubert Maxwell. Among his talented stablemates were Mel Cook, Joe Duche, and Tony Reed. “I lost my first amateur fight at Monessen High School,” Mosely recalled, “but I improved immensely and within a year was a Pittsburgh Golden Gloves champion.” In adult life he would continue to train at the Hill Top AC in Charleroi.
Mosely is one of the many effective and unsung heroes from California University’s undefeated 1958 football team. A four-year starting offensive lineman for the Vulcan’s from 1956, he also played nose tackle for two years, as well, before platooning became part of the game. He earned All-State honors his junior season and Little All-American honors as a senior. Paving the way for star skilled offensive players Phil Clifford, and Carl Crawley, Mosely helped the 1958 Vulcan’s achieve a perfect 8-0 overall record. The Vulcan team led the nation in rushing defense and was second nationally in total defense. Cal outscored its opposition that year by a 25.8 to 3.9 points per game margin and Mosely’s blocking helped the offense score more than 20 points five times and average 33 points per game during the season’s final five games. Cal’s closest wins that year were three victories by 13 points each.
It was during Mosely’s undergraduate tenure at Cal that he met future wife Emily Calloway. The Mosely’s have three children, Christopher, Constance and Fleming IV.
After earning his Bachelor’s degree in education from Cal in 1960, Mosely served two years in the Army before accepting a teaching job at Hawthorne Elementary School. After teaching for six years he became an assistant principal at Charleston Elementary School in Lorain, Ohio, and earned his master’s degree in counseling and his principal certification from Cal in 1972. Mosely returned to Hawthorne Elementary as an assistant principal before becoming the principal of Lorain’s Elementary, a bilingual school. Mosely is fluent in German and Spanish. While there Mosely attended the University of Akron on a part-time basis, and earned his doctorate of education in 1982. He retired in 1988.
While in Cleveland to begin his teaching and coaching career he won another Golden Gloves title. As the Cleveland champion he was given the opportunity to become a member of the U.S. Olympic boxing team at an elimination tournament in Washington, D.C. “I won my first three fights, two by knockout and one by TKO.” That set up a championship match against a young fighter from Philadelphia, “Jolting” Joe Frazier. “I easily won the first round by boxing,” Mosely recalled. “I started trading punches with Joe in the second round and quickly found out he could really hit. I planned to return to classic boxing in the third round. Midway through the round Joe rushed me with a wild left hook, but sidestepped him I hit him with a left hook. Joe started to go down but he never fell to the canvas. After the referee wiped his gloves off, I decided to go for the knockout. Bad decision! I started peppering Frazier as he was bent over but he threw another left hook from somewhere and completely stunned me. I attempted to take an eight count on one knee but lost my balance and fell on my side.” Mosely recovered before the referee’s count reached 10 and the fight continued. Less than ten seconds after the fight resumed the official stopped the bout and Joe was declared the winner even though Mosely was ahead in points. Joe went on to become heavyweight champion of the world.
Mosely’s athletic endeavors also included playing two years of division-level football while stationed in Germany with the Army. He started with the Eighth Division Pathfinders and helped them reign as undefeated European League champions and was selected to the All-Europe Team in 1961 and 1962 and the All-Army Team.
Donald Peters
Don was born on January 1, 1949, a twin brother to Dave Peters. Don is a 1966 Belle Vernon Area High School graduate who received numerous accolades in leading the 1984 U.S. women’s gymnastic team at the Los Angeles summer Olympic Games. Peters was named the United States Gymnastic Federation Coach of the Year for the third time. He gained a reputation as one of America’s top gymnastic experts. Only 35 at the time, Peters was considered one of the world’s premier gymnastic coaches.
Don’s high school sports included football as well as gymnastics. Gymnastics became a substitute sport for Peters since he didn’t make the basketball team. With the high school coaching of John DeMillion and the added Sokol Club program in neighboring Monessen run by Bud Giannini , Peters began to improve each year. By his senior year he became a co-captain on a team that won the state championships. In football Peters made all conference in a tough league.
Peters gained college stardom himself as a gymnast at West Chester State College, from which he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in health and physical education. While in college he was captain of the gymnastics team.
After college Peters’ coaching career blossomed serving as a teacher and coach in Downingtown, Pennsylvania as well as the Tumble-Gee Gymnastics Club of Paoli in Philadelphia. From there he went to the Grossfield School of Gymnastics in Milford, Connecticut. In 1979 he coached the internationally-known SCATS team.
Furthering his career as a gymnastics coach, Don directed the United States team in competition in South Africa; Barcelona, Spain; Japan; Varna, Bulgaria and London, England. In 1982 he coached in duel meets in China. Dave also coached world championship teams in Moscow in 1982, in Budapest in 1983 and Montreal in 1985.
With a reputation that was growing, Don was the logical choice to head the United States Women’s Gymnastic Team in preparation for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. 1984 proved to be a make or break year for women’s gymnastics. “We really struggled in those early years,” recalled Peters. With the success in 1984, USA Gymnastics had a growth spurt which funds a financially stable organization that is the envy of the world today. The United States is the dominant power in World Gymnastics and much of the credit is given to the efforts made in the early 1980s and Don Peters.
Most of the top names in woman’s gymnastics have been tutored or trained under the guidance of Don Peters. He coached Marcia Fredrick, the 1980 Olympian and the uneven parallel bars champion at the 1978 World Championships and the first American ever to win a gold medal in world championship competition. Peters also coached the 1980 Olympians Luci Collins and Beth Kline. The list of Peters’ trainees is extensive including Olympians Kathy Johnson, Michelle Dusserre, Pam Bileck, Marie Roethlisberger, and Lucy Sener.
Don has spent a lifetime working with gymnasts, ever since his school days at Belle Vernon Area High School where he was first exposed to the sport from other dedicated and inspired teachers.
Peters reflected about his school days at a banquet in his honor at the Peasant Village Restaurant in Rostraver Township on October 26, 1984. “I learned a lot about coaching from my coaches. John DeMillion, my first coach, got me started. He taught me that hard work pays off. Bap Manzini, one of my football coaches, was a tough man but he cared about you. I was a center for his football team. He taught me to be well prepared and organized. One thing about Bap, his teams always knew what to do in any situation. Another football coach Jimmie Russell taught me that inspiration is very important. Gymnast guru Bud Giannini gave me my start in gymnastics. What a dedicated man!” Phil Morrow, banquet coordinator declared, “This is a grand opportunity for all of us to honor one of our more illustrious alumni who went on to international recognition in the field of gymnastics. We are proud of him, what he has accomplished and we want him to know that.”
Don is the only United States coach to ever place five gymnasts on the same Olympic Team. He developed 59 U.S. National team members. He developed 22 U.S. World Championship Team members. He developed nine U.S. Olympians. From 1980 through 1988 he served as the head coach for the U.S. Team. He coached the first U.S. Olympic Team to win a Team medal (Silver) and All-Around Gold in 1984. He coached gymnasts in World Championships in 1974, 1978, 1979, 198l, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1997, 1999, and 2005. He was selected as “Coach of the Year” by USA Gymnastics four times in 1980, 1982, 1984 and 1988. Don was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 199l.
Don is married to a Belle Vernon native, Jean Lauder. They have two sons David and Michael.
Roger Valdiserri
Roger was a 1945 graduate of North Belle Vernon High School. He remembers his time in high school as “great days I wouldn’t trade for anything.” Fellow student Tom Fee remembers Valdiserri on the basketball court. “I remember Roger’s two hand set shot when he played for the NBV Jackrabbits.” During his high school days, he began work in sports administrative duties as the secretary and treasurer of the Belle Vernon Basketball League. Roger recollected on these times by saying, “I took care of the money, referee assignments and schedules, and I think I was all of sixteen-years old.”
Following high school Valdiserri was on to Note Dame. Before his graduation in 1954, Roger continued his work in sports administration under legendary football coach Frank Leahy. His position was student secretary for the Fighting Irish. Following his graduation, he continued to work as an administrative assistant to Coach Terry Brennan.
From 1959-64, Roger was employed as the public relations director for the Mercedes Benz Corporation. Following his tenure there, he found his way back into the sports arena by taking the same position with the Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League. The next year, however, offered Valdiserri an opportunity of a lifetime, and it was one he accepted and remained at for over three decades.
This experience led Roger back to the Notre Dame campus in 1966 where he took on the task of replacing possibly the best-known sports information directors in NCAA history, Charlie Callahan. But, because of his years of experience in high school and college in working behind the scenes and out of the spotlight, Valdiserri excelled at his new position.
In his first year as the SID (sports information director) at Notre Dame, Roger witnessed the football team bring home the national title. This along with successes in other sports kept the Irish student-athletes and coaches at the national forefront. Roger soon established a reputation as SID at keeping them in the spotlight in a manner that was both respectful and professional. This work ethic helped cement Notre Dame’s well-respected, business-like reputation.
During his thirty-three years at Notre Dame, Roger won over fifty national awards for his publications. He served as chairman of the NCAA Public Relations Committee and president of the College Sports Information Directors of America. He was also the recipient of the Arch Ward Award, the CoSIDA’s top honor, and was elected to the CoSIDA Hall of Fame. It was also during his time with the CoSIDA that he helped establish the Warren Berg Award to honor fellow Division 2 and 3 sports information directors. He was honored by US Basketball Writers as well as the Black Sports Information Directors of America. Roger also worked proudly and closely for nine years with Father Theodore M. Hesburgh on the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.
Other than his role as SID at Notre Dame, Roger was also a member of the NCAA Media Coordinating Committee, and was involved in twenty-two consecutive Final Four Championships, and served on the media relations committees for nine Super Bowls, three Olympiads and a World Cup Soccer Championship. He also was a co-founder and the first president of the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators.
The awards and honors continued into the 1990’s, just prior to his retirement in 1995. In 1990, he received the James E. Armstrong Award from the Notre Dame Alumni Senate, and in the same year he was inducted into the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Italian-American Hall of Fame. Finally, in 1993, the US Basketball Writers of America awarded him the Katha Quinn Award for “extraordinary service to the media.” He is a voting member of the BCS Harris poll and is a member of the Veteran’s Selection Committee of the National Collegiate Football Hall of Fame.
Roger was married to the late Elaine Tintori of Belle Vernon and is the father of five children: Richard, Kathleen, Kenneth, Thomas and Susan. Roger is very proud of the fact that all five of his children are also Notre Dame graduates.
John L. Verkleeren M.D.
Dr. Verkleeren is a 1962 Charleroi High School graduate. He is the third child of the late Isidore and Florence Luce Verkleeren. His deceased sister Norma Douro was the valedictorian of the Charleroi class of 1952. His brother, Edward, is a lifelong resident of the Mon Valley and retired school teacher who is known as the “King of Homing Pigeons in the Mon Valley.” John’s 30 plus year medical career includes more than 20 years with the U.S. Navy and the past 15 with the Southern California Permanente Medical group. He is currently chief of cardiology for Kaiser Permanente, a large HMO which cares for some 500,000 patients in San Diego County, and he also practices at Zion Hospital in San Diego and Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla. He was a three-letterman sportsman in football, basketball and baseball.
At Charleroi High in football as an end he was All Big Six and All WPIAL. A three-year starter on the basketball squad, Verkleeren was All Section, all WPIAL and Honorable Mention All State his senior year. Upon graduation he received the prestigious Leslie Morgan Award as the outstanding scholar-athlete.
Verkleeren recently reflected on his boyhood days with writer Ron Paglia. “I learned to play basketball at the Hilltop Athletic Club in Charleroi which was also home to some great boxers. You quickly learned to have a flat jump shot because the ceiling was only about 15 feet high. The people, smells, sights and sounds there can never be duplicated. I’ll never forget the boxing ring and the cigar smoking trainers, men like George Humphries and Bruno Pucci, and the sweaty fighters who were so dedicated to their sport.”
The late George “Beans” Chacko stands out in Verkleeren’s memories. “He was my junior high basketball and football coach. He was true winner, no question about it. I’m not sure I learned many technical skills from him, but the words of wisdom he shared with me are still with me today. He taught me and others the necessity and importance of self confidence. He emphasized that teamwork and hard work were the qualities you need to be a winner.”
Verkleeren carried those lessons to Charleroi High School, where he was a standout athlete who earned numerous post-season honors in football and basketball while playing for R. James “Rab” Currie and Henry “Gooch” Pennline, respectively. All of those laurels, including all-state recognition in football and basketball and being selected for the Big 33 football classic in Hershey, came at the same time that Verkleeren was posting equally successful marks in the classroom. In addition, he was president of his class three successive years, co-captain of the basketball team two years, and co-captain of the football Cougars as a senior.
John reflected on his high school coaches, “Rab” Currie was the consummate coach. He could motivate a tree. He not only taught you how to play the game of football, but also to look deep inside yourself as a means to improve. He was an excellent teacher of biology, but could easily have been a psychologist or motivational speaker. Coach Pennline was all basketball. A true gentleman he taught ethics as well as basketball. I never felt he was given the credit he deserved. We beat a lot of teams in our section which had better talent than us. Unfortunately, Uniontown was in our section and they had such great players as Don Yates, Ron Sepic and were so dominant. Uniontown won the state championship the year I was a senior.”
Verkleeren also recalled Coach James “Toots” Fillingham, Charleroi High’s baseball coach for many years, as a lifelong friend. “I first met him when I raced homing pigeons for my brother when Ed was deployed with the Marines. I was only 12 at the time. Toots had a great sense of humor and taught me how to laugh at myself to see the humor around me. I remember the sadness I felt when I sent him to the hospital not long before he passed away.”
John reflected on more of his memories about his high school days recently. “My brother made sure that I directed my energy toward sports. I’m glad he did because those experiences created great friendships. I still keep in touch with Stan Kemp and Charlie Hart.” One football game that stands out as a “tough one” Verkleeren remembered, Kemp kicked the winning field goal against Brownsville. Verkleeren set up the score when his tackle on a Brownsville player caused the runner to fumble the ball. “Stan first learned to kick in my front yard,” Verkleeren said. “We used the grape vine there as the goal post.” He also remembers spending a “long and anxious” night with Kemp at Charleroi-Monessen Hospital after Kemp took some hard hits in an “extremely hard fought” game against Clairton. “Stan was one of our team leaders and, more important, a good friend, Verkleeren said. “I was really concerned about him. But he was as tough as nails and he came through it okay.”
Verkleeren’s “fondest memory” of his athletic career at Charleroi on the basketball court was remembered as follows. “I stole the ball from Bill Malinchak and made the winning basketball to beat Monessen. It’s nice to have at least one good memory of playing against Monessen in those days. They always had good teams.”
Verkleeren drew the interest of many colleges and universities during his scholastic days but chose the University of Pittsburgh when the Panthers offered him a football scholarship. He played football and basketball as a freshman.
With John’s entrance into the University of Pittsburgh assistant football coach Lou (Bimbo) Cecconi described the new recruit as “determined and aggressive.” Pitt’s freshman basketball coach, Dr. Carl Peterson said the 6’3;" 195 pound athlete “always gives a second effort.”
At Pitt in football he was a tight end his sophomore year receiving a letter. As a starting defensive end his junior year, Verkleeren had a severe knee injury that made playing football difficult the rest of his career. His senior year he played defensive end/tight end.
“My sophomore year in football is one I remember well,” Verkleeren stated. “We were 9-1-0 but received no bowl invitations. We had great leadership and I was lucky enough to have been on a team with such players as Fred Mazurek, Al Griglionas, and John Matuczak. I played enough to earn a letter.”
The 1963 team is considered one of the best in Pitt history and was number three in the nation. Perhaps its most memorable victory came against Syracuse. Trailing by 21 points at halftime, the Panthers roared back in a thunderstorm that turned to snow and defeated the Orangemen 35-21. Their only loss came at the hands of Navy, which was led by eventual Heisman Trophy winner quarterback Roger Staubach. The Pitt Medical School Alumni News wrote recently that Verkleeren “can recall the thrill of making a tackle and catching a pass for a first down in his first game, against UCLA in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.” As a junior Verkleeren earned a job as a starting defensive end and played next to Marty Schottenheimer. That campaign was cut short when he blew out a knee in practice after a loss to UCLA in the season opener. “My medical collateral ligament, anterior cruciate ligament and medical meniscus completely trashed,” Verkleeren said. “I had extensive reconstructive surgery the next day. In those days there was not a lot that was done when it came to rehab. I know I never fully recovered physically or emotionally after that experience.”
Verkleeren returned to the gridiron the following year, “but with little success,” he said. The coaches, John Michelosen, Lou Cecconi and Bob Rosborough gave me every chance to play but I never came close to my pre-injury performance level. Ray Popp, who was from Monongahela, was a great teammate, a great football player and a class act. After our first win he gave me the game ball signed by my teammates. That meant so much and I thank Ray to this day for his thoughtfulness.” Verkleeren, who earned a letter in football as a senior, also appreciated the Pitt athletic department, especially athletic director Frank Carver and basketball coach Walt Cummins. “They were always there to assist and support me while I was a player and when I was in med school,” John recalled. “We were treated more as students than football players. Maybe that’s the reason the coach was fired after my senior year. Almost all of the Pitt football players graduated and a large percentage went on to study for advanced degrees.”
He graduated from Pitt Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He remained at Pitt’s Oakland campus to study at the School of Medicine and received his medical degree in 1971. He completed his internship at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh in 1972 and then headed to California for his residency in internal medicine (1973-1979) at the Naval Hospital in Oakland, where he served as chief resident during his final year. Verkleeren also completed a cardiology fellowship (1980-1982) the Naval Hospital of San Diego. His first duty station was at the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland in 1972. He served as a general medical officer.
John is married to Barbara Ann Brown, a retired AIDS project director. They are the parents of three children, Patrick, Christopher and Caitlin.
Honorable Judge Reggie B. Walton
Walton was a two-year letterman on the Donora Senior High School football team, having been a starting running and defensive back on the Dragons’ 1965 and 1966 teams. He was selected as a 1966 Valley Independent newspaper All-District Most Valuable Player. Reggie was also a three-year letterman on the track team as a broad-jumper and a 100, 200 and 400 yard sprinter.
Reggie was born in Donora, Pennsylvania on February 8, 1949, the son of Theodore and Ruth Walton. In 1960 when the local steel mill closed it cost Walton’s father his job. Reggie went to work at 10 selling newspapers. Walton credits an incident in which a friend nearly killed a rival with an ice pick with convincing him to turn towards academics
Upon graduation from high school, Reggie received a football scholarship to West Virginia State University located in Institute, West Virginia, eight miles from Charleston. He was a three-year football letterman at West Virginia State as a fullback and a member of the special teams. Reggie’s football career ended when he suffered a severe ankle injury during spring practice of his junior year. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from West Virginia State College in 1971, and then a law degree from The American University, Washington College of Law, in 1974.
Reggie attributes his high school and college football experiences as fundamental in the success he has achieved as a lawyer, judge, and national drug policy advisor. Reggie’s appreciation of the importance of cooperative teamwork, which he acquired in the athletic arena, was vital to the outstanding record he assessed both as a defense lawyer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and as a prosecutor in Washington, D.C. Moreover, the toughness Reggie developed from the grueling football practice sessions and the “never give up” mentality that has become part of his personality are attributes acquired to a significant degree from his experiences as a student-athlete at Donora High School. Although under-sized, Reggie learned that dedication to excellence and hard work are tremendous equalizers. Transferring these realities to the classroom and ultimately the courtroom, Reggie overcame a marginal high school academic record to become a judge at the age of thirty-two, the recipient of six presidential appointments and two appointments to positions in the federal judiciary by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Walton served as an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia from 1981 to 1989 and from 1991 to 2001. He also served as associate director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Before his appointment to the Superior Court bench in 1981, Judge Walton served as the Executive Assistant United States Attorney in the Office of the United States Attorney in Washington, D.C. from June, 1980 to July, 1981, and he was an Assistant United States Attorney in that office from March, 1976 to June, 1980. From June, 1979 to June 1980, Judge Walton was also the Chief of the Career Criminal Unit in the United States Attorney’s Office. Before joining the United States Attorney’s Office, Judge Walton was a staff attorney in the Defender Association of Philadelphia from August, 1974 to February, 1976.
Reggie currently serves as a United States District Judge in the District of Columbia, having been appointed to this position by President George W. Bush in 2001. Reggie also currently serves as a judge on the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, having been appointed to this position by Chief Justice John Roberts in 2007. Reggie is also a member of the federal judiciary’s Criminal Law Committee, a position to which he was appointed by former Chief Justice William Rehnquist and serves as chairman of the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission, having also been appointed to this position by President Bush. Reggie is also a faculty member at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada and an instructor at the Harvard University School of Law.
Judge Walton recently presided over the I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby trial, who was charged with and convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice. Mr. Libby was Vice President Dick Cheney’s Chief of Staff and National Security Advisor, and he was also a National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush.
Despite his appointments by Republican officials, The Washington Post reported, “fellow judges and lawyers who appear before him say Walton’s decisions do not appear to be guided by politics but by a tough-on-crime mentality.” Walton is known by local defense attorneys as a “long ball hitter” – a judge willing to impose long sentences in order to deter future crimes. In the fall 2005, the judge was driving his wife and daughter to the airport for a vacation when he came across an assailant attacking a cab driver on the side of the road. Walton tackled the assailant and subdued him until police arrived. The D.C. police spokesperson noted in response, “God bless Judge Walton. I surely wouldn’t want to mess with him.”
Reggie is confident that without his football experiences, outstanding coaches and great parents he would never have this level of success. In particular, Reggie credits one of his high school coaches, Rudy Andabaker, with helping to plant the seed that resulted in him growing into the person he is today. Coach Andabaker’s constant push for maximum athletic performance and good citizenship helped lay the foundation for Reggie’s eventual belief that all things are possible when one fully commits to achieving what may seem to be an insurmountable goal.
Judge Walton has been active in working with the youth of the Washington, D.C. area and throughout the nation. He has served as a Big Brother and frequently speaks at schools throughout the Washington Metropolitan area concerning drugs, crime, and personal responsibility. Judge Walton and his wife are the parents of one daughter.
Past Inductees
Read about our past Inductees here!