Brookline veteran served community as detective, coach

Bud Cambest was a mentor to the legion of youngsters he coached in Brookline for more than 40 years.

Teams such as the Brookline Knights Mighty-Mite Football Team, Resurrection Grade School Basketball Team, St. Pius Church Baseball Team, Brookline Little League and Brookline Elementary Girls Basketball Team all thrived under Mr. Cambest's guidance.

Anthony F. "Bud" Cambest of Brookline, a retired Pittsburgh police officer and detective, died on Monday, June 11, 2012, in Manor Care in Whitehall. He was 81.

Sharon Bubacz said her father was a tough, no-nonsense coach who could shape up a new group of youngsters eager to play ball.

"I can still recall how one young man who wanted to become a coach told me that my father at first scared him to death. But once he began working with my father, he understood the need to be tough and he became one of Dad's best coaches and a friend," she said.

Mr. Cambest served his country during the Korean War and later served Pittsburgh as a police officer and detective for 18 years.

"My father always believed in doing his best at whatever he attempted, including serving as a police officer in a community that put their trust in him," said Bubacz of Brookline.

Born in Uptown and raised in Brookline, Mr. Cambest was one of two children in the family of Frank and Lillian Diamond Cambest.

After graduating from the former Fifth Avenue High School, where he played on the football team, Mr. Cambest entered the Army and went to Korea. After his discharge in 1954, he served six years in the Army Reserve.

In 1960, Mr. Cambest joined the Pittsburgh police and a year later married Patricia Howell of Sheraden. In the ensuing years, Mr. Cambest was promoted to detective. After retiring in 1978, he worked as a furlough investigator for the state until 1992.

"Our father was also a tough, no-nonsense man, who worked hard for his family and expected his family to do the same," Bubacz said.

In addition to his daughter, Sharon, Mr. Cambest is survived by his children, Cindy Yankowski and Lisa Bushmen, both of Brookline, and Frank W. Cambest of Shaler; and 10 grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Patricia, in 1992.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. today in the Church of the Resurrection in Brookline.

Arrangements are being handled by Frank F. Debor Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Brookline.