Marcie Radakovich had long known about the man her father was and what he represented.
George Radosevich was a loving caretaker who, on a modest salary, paid for all four of his children to attend college and was an accomplished athlete who, when his professional playing days were over, took his passion for sports and passed it on to the students he dutifully instructed for decades.
When her father was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, however, she heard stories about Mr. Radosevich from about 35 of his former students and athletes that not even she knew.
There was a former student, now in his mid-40s, who suffered from multiple sclerosis and was on the verge of suicide until Mr. Radosevich created an adaptive physical education course that helped allow him to walk again. Although not every tale was quite that powerful, each illustrated the impact Mr. Radosevich had, turning the event into more of a celebration of life than a formal ceremony.
“Everyone kind of had their own relationship with him and their own memories,” Mrs. Radakovich said. “It was a really special time.”
Two years later, they’re the kind of stories that Mrs. Radosevich carries with her as she remembers her father, who died Monday from congestive heart failure at the Richard M. Campbell Veterans Nursing Home in Anderson, S.C. He was 88.
Mr. Radosevich was a three-sport star at Brentwood in the 1940s before lettering in football, track and basketball at Pitt. In 1951, he won the Athletic Committee Award, given annually to the university’s best athlete in any sport. With that honor, he received a plaque along the walkway to the Cathedral of Learning.
His success in college earned him a spot as a center in the NFL. After a two-year stint in the Marines, he debuted with the Steelers in 1953. He spent the final three years of his four-year career with the Baltimore Colts, where he snapped the ball for one season to a young quarterback named Johnny Unitas.
At a time when professional athletes made a smidgen of what they do today, Mr. Radosevich worked as a substitute teacher for the City of Pittsburgh school system from 1954 to 1956. Once his playing career ended, he spent much of the next four decades as a football coach, primarily at Brentwood.
“We’d play around with him and pick a subject,” said Rick Altomari, a former assistant coach for Mr. Radosevich at Brentwood. “It could be anything, like baseball, and he could tell you a joke about baseball. He could tell you a joke about just any subject you wanted. He was a very well-rounded guy.”
Through his kindness and generosity, Mr. Radosevich was ahead of his time. As a physical education teacher, he started an adaptive gym class for students who didn’t necessarily fit in physically or socially, giving them an opportunity to exercise free of stress and ridicule.
Inspired by his three daughters, he also helped start girls basketball and track programs at Brentwood in the early 1970s, a time when many schools didn’t offer a wide range of athletic options to girls.
“He wanted to make sure we had a chance to do something,” Mrs. Radakovich said.
Mr. Radosevich is survived by his wife of 61 years, Marian Radosevich of Clemson, S.C.; his son, Mark Radosevich of Madisonville, Tenn.; his three daughters, Marcie Radakovich of Seneca, S.C., Ruth Anne Free of Smock and Susan Schlepp of Sammamish, Wash.; as well as eight grandchildren.
The family plans on cremation and will spread Mr. Radosevich’s ashes at his son’s farm in Tennessee. In lieu of flowers, the family is asking for donations to the University of Pittsburgh Department of Athletics, P.O. Box 7436, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, Attention: Maureen Anderson.
Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com
First Published: April 7, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
