Longtime Jeannette resident Ron Smith is council's newest member
The city's newest councilman was born and raised in West Virginia, but he has spent most of his adult life living on the north side of Jeannette.
Ron Smith, a native of Middlebourne, W.Va., attended Salem College on a football scholarship and met his wife Laura, a Jeannette native.
The couple married between Laura Smith's junior and senior year and she commuted 80 miles a day round trip to finish college while her husband taught in Middlebourne.
Smith taught there for two years and then the couple relocated to Jeannette.
Now retired, Smith taught and coached at several schools around the area before he settled at Penn-Trafford.
“I was the head baseball coach at Greensburg Central Catholic for six years and the assistant football coach for two years,” said Smith.
But that was not the end of his coaching or teaching career. At Penn-Trafford he taught physical education and social science for 29 years and coached, too.
He was the head football coach at Penn-Trafford for about seven years and the assistant track coach for 17 years.
Smith enjoys coaching and also has coached football at Hempfield, Woodland Hills, Franklin Regional and, for the last 13 years of his coaching career, he was the assistant coach at Carnegie Mellon University.
He retired after in 2007 after 38 years of coaching.
“I really like working with kids. You take a bunch of kids and try to get them to buy into what you want them to do. They all come from different walks of life and you try to put the pieces together. I was very fortunate as a head coach. I had great assistants. They got the job done,” said Smith.
“I got into another ball game now — politics,” said Smith, who was appointed to city council filling the seat vacated by Bill Bedont, who moved to Ohio.
Smith is officially running for a full term in the May primary.
Smith decided to become involved in city government after speaking to Mayor Richard Jacobelli about some of the problems that he had observed around town.
“He challenged me. He said, ‘When are you running for office.' I said, ‘Next year,'” said Smith.
Smith had been thinking about getting involved before Bedont resigned, but the opportunity presented itself earlier than expected, “and that's how I got started,” said Smith.
In addition to his interest in government, Smith enjoys taking care of his property and watching his grandchildren.
“I play lifeguard when they come over. My three grandkids are a real treat. It doesn't matter how bad of day you have, when you are in their company they are a real treat,” said Smith.
The Smiths have two daughters, Jennifer and Amanda, and three grandchildren — Nicholas, 6, Brandon, 8, and Lauryn, 14.
Smith is an avid golfer who belongs to the Jeannette Golf League, which meets at Cloverleaf Golf Club.
He golfs with the league from April to September on Thursday evenings.
“I also go to different courses like Norvelt and Timber Ridge with my friends,” said Smith.
During the winter, he bowls with an Ascension Church league and when the weather is good, he plays bocce at the M&S Club.
Smith's said his philosophy is “we are only passing through; you might as well enjoy it.”
To learn more about coaching, golf, bocce, having fun with grandkids or city government, get to know neighbor Ron Smith.
Editor's note: Meet Your Neighbors is a recurring feature in The Jeannette Spirit. If you know of a neighbor with an interesting life story to tell, someone who deserves some recognition for volunteer work, a resident with a special talent or an avid collector who would like to be featured, call the Spirit at 724-838-5154 or send an email to klinden@tribweb.com.
Margie Stanislaw is a contributing writer.
