Remembering my best man Ken Wiltz

There is very little, if anything, I can offer concerning my dear friend, Kenny Wiltz, that has not already been so eloquently expressed by this newspaper’s Taylor Brown and Jeff Oliver. Yet, because of the very close relationship I enjoyed with this bulwark of a man for more than 50 years, I feel compelled to add a few of my own thoughts.

For starters, it was Ken, a true fan of the Cougar red and black, who introduced me, an equally strong backer of Monessen’s black and white, into the Charleroi Pony League program in1972. Through his influence, for the next several years I managed a team in that league. Perhaps my crowning glory in those years came when I managed an All-Star team that defeated a group of boys from Monessen.

This, of course pleased him to no end, yet he never questioned or criticized the inborn allegiance I held for the Hounds. I believe we both wanted to see all schools in the Valley to excel in their efforts, not only in athletics.

A few years following my introduction into the Charleroi Pony League Baseball program, I met and fell in love with my wife, Marilynne. We recently celebrated our golden anniversary, an occasion in which 50 years earlier, Ken had graciously accepted my request to become my best man. I couldn’t have chosen a more worthy person to hold the ring I would place on my wife’s finger. The bachelor party he organized which took place at the former Vic’s Tavern of North Charleroi, will long be remembered as the highlight that marked the end of one era, and the kickoff to a new adventure which has now been going on for more than 50 exciting, lovely years.

Over those 50 years, Ken and his wife Linda, have kept our friendship alive and well. My own two children, Brian and Tracy, children of an earlier marriage, grew up under those same red and black colors which Ken adored. He took my son under his wing just as he had done with so many other young boys and nurtured him at basketball camps and baseball sessions. He was pleased when Brian lettered on the Cougar tennis team and never failed to let me know he also followed my daughter Tracy’s adventures as an elite gymnast and diver on the Cougar swim team.

His lifetime of work as a Charleroi Area School Board member over 20 some years as its president, and the leadership skills he displayed as the Mon Valley YMCA director will be sorely missed. His accomplishments throughout this Valley shall never be forgotten.

If, indeed, eternal salvation came through one’s good deeds, there would be a special place reserved for Ken. However, that is not a part of God’s plan. Instead, salvation is a gift which we cannot earn. However, once one accepts the free gift offered through the blood of Jesus Christ, his eternal rewards will be taken into account.

Ken Wiltz, at this very moment, is being overwhelmed with the gifts which are being served on his heavenly platter.

And that, my friends, is most certainly “Etched in Stone.”

Columnist Ralph E. Stone is a Monessen High School Class of 1951 graduate, has degrees from both California and Indiana Universities of Pennsylvania. A retired educator for 32 years, he served as a classroom teacher, a guidance counselor and a social school worker. In addition to his two published books he has written a stop smoking program titled GASP, “God Answers Smokers Prayers” and “Bible Border Notes,” which takes at least one verse from the scriptures of the 1,188 chapters of the Bible and relates them to the circumstances of today’s world. He resides in North Charleroi with his wife Marilynne. He is available for speaking engagements for church groups and social organizations by phoning him at 724-483-2132.