Ron Paglia remembered as dedicated journalist and caring mentor
By STACY WOLFORD
swolford@yourmvi.com
In a career spanning more than six decades, veteran journalist Ron Paglia was known for writing poignant stories and columns about everyone from Mon Valley sports legends to heroic veterans and popular oldies DJs. No matter the subject, he believed everyone had a story to tell.
Paglia, 84, who spent his storied career as a writer and editor for The Valley Independent, a columnist for the Mon Valley Independent, as well as stints at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Harrisburg Patriot-News, passed away peacefully at his home in Charleroi Tuesday after a battle with cancer.
Inducted into the Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame in 2013 as one of only a handful of journalists to be nominated for the esteemed honor, Paglia’s biography states, “I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many interesting people and, more important, the privilege and pleasure of telling their stories in their own words.”
After learning of his death, his former colleagues and friends expressed their admiration for the iconic Mon Valley newsperson, whose humble attitude, witty sense of humor and unique writing style won’t soon be forgotten.
“Ron and I were co-workers at The Valley Independent for many years. He was a hard-working and excellent editor. His columns and ‘Pages of the Past’ brought back many memories of the Valley’s history. I think his best columns were those that were poignant or humorous. He will be missed,” said Ruth Yatsko, a retired copy editor at The Valley Independent.
Ron’s career in the newspaper profession began at the start of his senior year at California Community High School in September 1956 as a sports correspondent for The Brownsville Telegraph. Subsequently, he worked for The Charleroi Mail, The Daily Republican in Monongahela, The Valley Independent and newspapers in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. His work also has been published in other newspapers, “Western Pennsylvania Guide to Good Health” and the Pittsburgh, Atlanta, South Florida and Chicago editions of “Hospital News.”
In August 1960, Paglia joined the sports staff at The Valley Independent and became the sports editor in 1964. He held the position until 1969 when he moved over to the general news section and spent many years as the newspaper’s city editor.
“Ron was always the first guy in the office in the morning and the last to leave at night. Some people would have called him a workaholic, but I think he was just a person who was fully committed to whatever job he was doing,” recalled his longtime colleague Karen Peters, a retired managing editor at the Mon Valley Independent. “Our assignments were on our desks when we arrived in the morning, complete with background and sources.
“He knew the Valley inside and out and always seemed to have a source, no matter what town or what topic. He was a wealth of information and didn’t hesitate to share. That helped me so much when I was starting out as a naive reporter right out of college. Ron worked hard and never asked us to do anything he couldn’t or wouldn’t do himself. He was a great city editor and I feel like he gave me a solid entry into the news industry.”
As a sportswriter and then sports editor, Paglia had the opportunity to cover three WPIAL championship football teams — Charleroi in 1959, Monessen in 1961 and Rostraver in 1962 — as well as Bellmar High’s unbeaten teams in 1959 and 1963.
“There were some outstanding athletes and teams in the Valley during those years,” Ron stated in his hall of fame biography. “And there were coaches like Rab Currie, Joe Gladys, Jimmy Russell, Bap Manzini and Ed Hogan. It was a sportswriter’s dream to write about them.”
It was during his tenure at The Valley Independent that Ron tested the waters at larger newspapers in Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. He was a sportswriter at the Harrisburg publication and worked the copy desk and did pop music concert reviews in Pittsburgh.
“It was a great experience at those metro newspapers, but I knew I didn’t belong in the bigger cities,” he said in 2013. “I was born in the Mon Valley and belonged here, so I came back and have never had any regrets about those decisions. The people in the Valley are very special.”
Ron was a member of the Selection Committee of the Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame for several years. He became the eighth journalist to be inducted into the MMVASHOF, being preceded by Floyd France, John T. Matta, John R. Bunardzya, Robert Petriello, Clair N. Brown, Roger Valdiserri and Brian Herman.
“When I think of Ron Paglia one word comes to describe him — mentor,” said Mid Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame General Chairman Stephen V. Russell. “(As a) Valley historian and editor of the local newspaper, Ron’s impact was major. Two of his mentors, Mitch Steen and John Bunardzya, would say of Ron, congratulations on a job well done.”
Ron decided to switch careers in 1989 to accept a public relations/media relations position at Monongahela Valley Hospital. He retired from the hospital in January 2009.
“The southwestern Pennsylvania communications community lost a shining star. Ron was a talented writer who had great instincts when it came to promoting the hospital. Although we never formally worked together, he was a legend in the Valley who became a reliable source of history and other knowledge for me — but most of all he was a trusted friend,” said Corinne Laboon, system communications manager at Penn Highlands Healthcare.
In addition to his “passion for the English language and writing,” Ron also had a penchant for music. He was a disc jockey for nearly 20 years and was the original DJ at the popular teen record hops at the Stockdale Fire Hall from Dec. 21, 1957, through August 1964. He also worked dances at such venues as The Inn Crowd, the Lock Four Fire Hall, the Belle Vernon Fire Hall and Redd’s Beach, and he hosted a show on radio station WESA in Charleroi in the late 1950s.
“They told me I had the perfect face for radio — one that no one could see,” Ron said of his brief stint at WESA, according to his biography.
Through 2022, he wrote a weekly column for the Mon Valley Independent, “Valley Oldies” and spent hours combing the newspaper archives for the “Pages of the Past” column.
Many of his columns were nostalgic looks back at historic times and happenings in the Mid Mon Valley. Many readers may remember he jokingly started many of his columns with his famous line, “… a group of the faithful 19 readers of this weekly venture down Memory Lane are looking for another familiar format for a look at Yesteryear.”
An ardent supporter of veterans, Ron served with the 430th Replacement Co. of the U.S. Army Reserve from 1965 to 1971.
He also authored a book, “Lost and Found: The Bickfords of Bristol,” a biography of members of the Bickford family that once lived in Monongahela and then for many years in Bristol, England.
To many though, Ron was more than a journalist and lover of sports and music — he was a family man and mentor to many.
“A member of Monessen’s 1961 WPIAL Championship football team said to me years ago, ‘I would never have gone to college if it hadn’t been for your dad,’ which made a tremendous impact on me,” said his son, Chris Paglia. “He wasn’t just a sports writer, he was an advocate for student-athletes. Although his first love was soccer and the Charleroi Cougars and Dunlevy Redbirds, he was passionate about sports and journalism, often writing stories that got the attention of colleges. His knowledge of local history, which went far beyond sports, always amazed me.”
Chris Paglia credits his dad for his own interest in learning about local history by following up on his stories and reading his countless articles in the newspaper archives.
“My dad, for better or worse, was his own person, never really adhering to what society thought he should be or do. He lived life on his own terms, all the while trying to guide, help and mentor others,” Chris Paglia said. “In the end, I’d like for him to simply BE remembered, for others to know that he lived a full life. Read his old articles, listen to some of the music he used to play at Stockdale dances and appreciate all that he tried to do for others.”
His obituary, which he wrote and requested be published, appears on page A4. Private funeral arrangements are being handled by the William R. Taylor Funeral Home in Monessen.
