Pitt a favorite with family's ties to education

As a teacher for more than a quarter-century in the Belle Vernon Area School District, Doris C. Zeli constantly emphasized to her students the value of a strong education.

That passion for learning continues today, especially when the subject is the University of Pittsburgh, where a bond involving her family spans more than 100 years.

“Clearly, Pitt is a favorite with our family,” said Zeli, a native of Monessen and longtime resident of Rostraver Township.

Her father, the late Julius R. Conti Sr., a well-known pharmacist in Monessen, began the tradition when he attended Pitt at the turn of the last century and received a bachelor of science degree in pharmacy from the School of Medicine there in 1913.

It has been perpetuated over the years by Zeli's brother, Col. Julius R. Conti Jr., U.S. Air Force (Retired), her son, William J. Zeli Jr., and her grandchildren, Zachary W. Zeli and Larissa M. Zeli.

“The span of a century separated my father and my grandson receiving their diplomas from the University of Pittsburgh,” Zeli said. “My father received his degree in the spring of 1913 and his great-grandson, Zachary, received his bachelor of science degree in business administration on April 27, 2013. Larissa graduated as a CRNP (Certified Registered Nurse Practitioner) in August of last year.”

The grandchildren, graduates of Plum High School in Murrysville, have strengthened the Conti-Zeli bond with Pitt in their chosen careers.

Zachary Zeli works as an administrative coordinator at the university's bioengineering center in Oakland, while Larissa Zeli is employed at UPMC's Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh.

“Zachary and Larissa received quality educations at the University of Pittsburgh and are doing very well in their chosen professions with the university,” Zeli said. “We are very proud of them. My father would have been equally proud and pleased that they are advancing and enhancing the legacy he began at Pitt so many years ago.”

Their father, a 1976 graduate of Belle Vernon Area High School, graduated from Pitt with a bachelor of science degree in engineering and is employed as division manager for Apex Companies, an environmental engineering company in Trafford. Bill Zeli's wife, the former Julie M. Uhlman of Belle Vernon, is office manager at Apex Companies. Julie Zeli, a 1986 graduate of California University of Pennsylvania, is the daughter of the late Joe and Mary Uhlman of Rostraver Township.

Julius R. Conti Sr. was the son of longtime Monessen businessman James V. Conti, who was engaged in the grocery business for many years and also was associated with Parnella Brothers Company, successful produce dealers in the city. He came to Monessen from New York City in 1901 and helped build the first foundation for the Pittsburgh Steel Company plant before buying the property on Schoonmaker Avenue, where he resided and opened his business.

Announcement of Julius R. Conti Sr.'s graduation from the Pittsburg (yes, without the “h”) College of Pharmacy in the June 4, 1913, edition of the Monessen Daily Independent noted he was the son of “well-known Monessen residents.”

It wasn't long after Conti graduated from the University of Pittsburgh that he opened the Conti Drug Company of Monessen at the corner of Third Street and Schoonmaker Avenue.

He sold the business in 1917 to two of his Pitt classmates, Phillip Hoffman and Rudy Helaphant, to join the U.S. Army Air Corps as a World War I aviator.

“Dad had an understanding with Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Helaphant that if he survived the war, they would sell the business back to him,” Bud Conti, who lives in Melbourne, Fla., said in an earlier interview. “He did survive, along with his fellow fliers Billy Mitchell and Eddie Rickenbacker, but his friends refused to sell back the store. They were in the process of forming the first chain of drug stores in the East.

“The year was 1921 and the chain was initially called Ray's Drugs. It evolved into Sun Drug, then Sun/Ray Drug and then Thrift Drug. It later became Eckerd Drug. Dad stayed with his friends and managed the Monessen store (Thrift) until his death in 1957. He was only 64.”

Doris and Bud's mother, the late Carrie Mitchell Conti, also was well-known in Monessen, as she was active in political circles.

“Mom did work for (Mayor) Hugo Parente,” Bud Conti recalled. “Remember, that was at a time when it was uncommon for women to leave the home to work. But my mother enjoyed being active and she loved the idea of working in politics. Hugo and others including those on the county and state levels thought the world of her.”

Because of his father's enthusiasm for aviation during the days of early flight and his active duty service as a pilot in World War I, Bud Conti was determined to become a fighter pilot. In 1944, during his junior year at Monessen High School, he took the Navy V-5 exam for young men seeking to pursue careers as naval officers. He was accepted in 1946 and under the auspices of the Navy attended the University of Pittsburgh for one year (1946-47).

Subsequently, Conti received a principal appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point from Congressman Augustine B. Kelley (D-Greensburg). He resigned from the Navy and began to fulfill a lifetime dream to become an Air Corps pilot as his father had been before him.

Conti received a bachelor of science degree in military engineering from West Point and opted to join the Air Force. He later earned a master's degree in management from the University of Southern California.

His distinguished military career included assignments as a test pilot at Cape Canaveral in Florida and deployment to Vietnam in 1963 as chief of the forward air controllers. He was decorated with numerous honors including the bronze star medal for valor, five air medals and the air commendation medal.

Stateside duties after Vietnam included those at the Pentagon, a return to Cape Canaveral, a staff and faculty position at the Air War College of Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., and the Armament Development Test Center at Elgin AFB in Florida. Here retired with 30 years of service on June 1, 1980.

Before leaving Monessen to continue his education at the University of Pittsburgh, Bud Conti was an Eagle Scout an assistant scoutmaster, at age 17, and started the first Explorer unit and three Cub Scout packs in his hometown. He also played the baritone horn in the Monessen High School band and was an MHS school photographer for three years, two of them as chief photographer.

Conti's sister, Doris,was a 1949 graduate of Monessen High School and received her bachelor's and master's degrees in education from California State College (now California University of Pennsylvania). She was a teacher in the Belle Vernon Area School District for 28 years before retiring in 1993.

Doris and her husband, William J. Zeli, were married 52 years before his death on Feb. 15, 2007.

Bud Conti and his brother-in-law shared a special bond with Bud's father because all three were military aviators.

Zeli, a native of Marianna and a 1939 graduate of North Belle Vernon High School, was a first lieutenant with the U.S. Army Corps (1942-45). He and his crew made 35 successful bombing runs out of London during World War II. He retired from the Air Force Reserve as a captain in 1959.

“My father was an inspiration to me,” Bud Conti has often said.

And obviously to many others – in many ways.

(If you have memories to share or story ideas, contact Ron Paglia at ronpaglia@verizon.net or c/o The Valley Independent, Eastgate 19, Monessen, PA 15062.)

Ron Paglia is a freelance writer for Trib Total Media.