‘Mr. Charleroi’ Stan Milchovich dies at 83
Stan Milchovich
By JEFF OLIVER
For the MV Independent
If there were a title of “Mr. Charleroi,” that moniker would have belonged to Stan “Nunnie” Milchovich, who died Thursday at age 83.
Over the last 55 years or more, Milchovich was synonymous with the Charleroi Area School District and its athletic teams.
In the 1950s, Milchovich went to California State College and starred in football. After a brief stint as a teacher at Bentworth, he returned to his alma mater in 1963 and worked there until he retired.
He was a star athlete in several sports, worked as a teacher, athletic director and principal. After he retired, he returned briefly to again serve his alma mater in an administrative capacity.
Today Charleroi is grieving because Mr. Charleroi is gone.
Milchovich was a bit of a renaissance man in that he excelled in academics, athletics, coaching and administration. He also served several roles with the WPIAL and traveled the nation playing softball well into his early 70s.
He also was a standout performer in the local Pennsylvania Senior Games, winning more than 50 medals.
One of the most decorated athletes the Valley has seen in high school, college and adult sports, he was named to several halls of fame, including the Charleroi Football Hall of Fame (which he started), the Mid-Mon Valley All Sports Hall of Fame and the Greene County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. He was a recipient of the Michael A. Duda Award at California University of Pennsylvania.
Milchovich also spent many years as a WPIAL sports basketball official.
Word of his death hit home with many people, especially those who worked with him at Charleroi.
“Nobody represented Charleroi better than Nunnie did,” said Bill Wiltz, Charleroi’s boys basketball coach and former athletic director at the school. “In fact, he was Charleroi. That’s the best way to put it.
“I didn’t see him at one basketball game this season and that was so unlike him. I figured something was up. Man, I’m gonna miss him.”
Bruno Pappasergi said one of the first people he met when he was hired as a teacher at Charleroi in 1978 was Milchovich. Pappasergi also coached baseball and basketball at the high school.
“He kind of took me under his wing and nobody taught me more about Charleroi and the school than he did,” said Pappasergi, now a basketball assistant at Ringgold. “In fact, he taught me so much about life in general. He was just such a great guy.
“You couldn’t ask for a better person to work for and with. When he was the AD and then the principal, whether you were a teacher or a coach, he always had your best interest at heart. That was nice to know.
“He was a special man. He was funny. He was friendly. He could make you laugh and he could offer constructive criticism,” Pappasergi said. “And if you needed it, he would give you a pat on the butt.”
Phil Pergola, the dean of area basketball coaches currently in his second stint at Ringgold, guided the Cougars from 1978-86 and had high praise for Milchovich.
“He was the best athletic director I ever worked for and when I was the AD (at California Area), I was my own boss,” Pergola said. “Nobody was more professional than Nunnie. It was fun working for him.
“After I left Charleroi, I always looked forward to seeing him at the Charleroi Cougar Booster Club Christmas Tournament. When you saw him, you smiled. You had to. He was a great guy, a real friend.”
Lee Hall worked more than 25 years in the Charleroi Area School District with Milchovich, starting when he was hired as a teacher in 1966. In fact, when Milchovich gave up the AD job at Charleroi when he was named high school principal, Hall was his replacement.
“He meant a lot to me,” Hall said. “He was my last contact with the Mon Valley. When we worked together, we had a great relationship. If anybody knew anything about anyone from Charleroi – whether they still lived there or had moved away – it was Nunnie. He was Charleroi. Period.”
Kevin Lee, also a standout athlete during his days at Charleroi, said Milchovich was the glue for the community in so many ways.
“He did so many things that a lot of people know about, but what really was special about him is how hard he worked for Charleroi alumni and trying to get old teams back together again,” said Lee. “He worked tirelessly to make all of those events work. He cared so much about Charleroi. We lost a legend.”
Jim “Mouse” Chacko, another Charleroi legend, spent many years as a basketball officiating partner with Milchovich.
“There will never be another one like him,” Chacko said. “He helped more people on accident than most people do on purpose. He was a good man and he was his own man. People don’t realize how much he really did for people.
“He grew up on the streets and knew if anyone was BS-ing him. He didn’t throw many bouquets, a lot of hand grenades though. He was an original.”
Wiltz added that whenever it came time to put together the program for the Charleroi Football Hall of Fame, he relied heavily on Milchovich.
“He was my right hand man with the hall of fame,” Wiltz said. “He was my encyclopedia about inductees, especially those from the ’50s, ’60s and earlier. He just knew everything there was to know about Charleroi.”
Wiltz and Pappasergi shared similar stories about being on vacation and running into somebody who knew Milchovich.
“I was in Florida once and had a Charleroi shirt on,” said Wiltz. “A guy came up to me and asked me if I knew Nunnie Milchovich.”
“I was in Myrtle Beach,” recalled Pappasergi. “I had a Charleroi shirt on and this guy came up and asked me if I was from the Mon Valley and if I knew Nunnie Milchovich. And that wasn’t the only time. Anytime I went anywhere (outside the state) and somebody found out I was from Charleroi, they asked me about Nunnie. It was amazing.
“There is just nobody else who is more connected to Charleroi than he was.”
Another characteristic of Milchovich that people appreciated was he was a straight shooter.
“He did not mince his words,” said Hall. “If he liked you, you knew it. If he didn’t, he didn’t hide it. I just feel blessed that I was one of the people he liked.”
“He told it like it was,” Pappasergi said. “I appreciated his honesty all the time. He was a great person to have in your corner. This one is going to hurt for a while.”
Attending Charleroi athletic events will be different without seeing Milchovich there.
Another thing they all agreed on are the nostalgic stories that will be told at their friend’s funeral.
“Oh, I can tell you a lot of stories,” Pappasergi said with a laugh. “But you can’t print any of them. Very few Charleroi stories don’t include Nunnie.”
“I don’t know who is going to memorialize him,” added Wiltz. “But it sure will be entertaining.”
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