A life of service: John "Jack" Lovey's dedication to Aspinwall spans decades

John “Jack” Lovey’s job with U.S. Steel took him all over the world, but the most cherished location to him is a borough 10 miles northeast of Pittsburgh along the Allegheny River — his beloved Aspinwall.

It has been his home for more than seven decades, the place where he and his wife JoAnn were married, raised their five children and built a life of service to the community.

Lovey was on Aspinwall council for 28 years and president for 15.

“I always had very good people working with me,” said Lovey, 96, as he reminisced about what Aspinwall means to him on a recent Wednesday evening. “I love Aspinwall. I love the people.”

And the people love him.

Aspinwall Mayor Joe Noro said he is Lovey’s biggest fan.

Noro, who served on council with Lovey when he was president, said Lovey offered advice about the importance of understanding how things run in each part of the borough, from council to other committees and groups in the neighborhood.

“Jack is a leader,” Noro said. “He loves his community. His is one of Aspinwall’s biggest cheerleaders.”

Lovey, who turned 96 on Nov. 12, has lived in Aspinwall for 73 years, and for nearly 71 of them he has been married to the love of his life, JoAnn, 91. They were married in St. Scholastica Church, now part of Christ the King Parish, where Lovey ushered for several decades.

“We are the oldest living married couple who belong to St. Scholastica,” Lovey said as he looked over at JoAnn.

Their families knew each other. Lovey’s late sister, Patti, was like a sister to JoAnn, she said. So when Lovey went into the U.S. Army on April 14, 1951, during the Korean War, he promised to keep in touch with JoAnn. The two sent letters while he was in the U.S. Army and stationed for nearly two years at Fort Devens in Massachusetts.

Those letters got more serious over the months apart, JoAnn said.

The Army wanted him to re-enlist.

“I said, ‘No, I want to go see my girl and see what I can do in civilian life,’ ” Lovey said. “I was very lucky. I never left the base.”

His civilian life began when he was hired by U.S. Steel as mailroom supervisor. His father-in-law said it was a good company.

JoAnn helped him pick out a suit that resembled one from the movie “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit,” starring Gregory Peck.

“My dad wore a suit every day to work,” his son David Lovey said. “And to church on Sunday.”

A job opened in the audiovisual department at U.S. Steel, which included public relations duties. The position gave him the opportunity to travel to places such as Tokyo, London, Geneva and Rio de Janeiro. He attended stockholders meetings and oversaw the company’s audiovisual presentations via 35mm slides and multiple projectors. Lovey used rolling carts to move all the equipment.

He said he learned how to produce the visual productions through on-the-job training.

When the U.S. Steel Tower opened in 1971 in Downtown Pittsburgh, Lovey was there.

“Living in Aspinwall was an advantage because most of the (U.S. Steel) executives lived in (nearby) Fox Chapel and they would pick me up,” said Lovey, who reported to the U.S. Steel chairman.

Throughout his 40-year career, he worked for five chairmen. Being able to connect with people is what drew him to run for Aspinwall council when Chick Agnew suggested it.

“We knocked on every door in Aspinwall asking for votes,” said Lovey, of he and JoAnn, who have seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. “I remember being at the polls and telling a woman I wanted to give her my card and asking her to vote for me. She said, ‘No, I have decided. I need to go in and vote for John Lovey.’ ”

Before he was a member of council, Lovey would attend meetings and take notes. One time he recalled being the only attendee.

With G. James Haberman as council president, Bill Eckert as borough manager and Lovey a council member, they worked to start several funds, including one for sewer construction because the sewers would back up during heavy rains. They also helped start a fund for road construction.

He continued those projects once he became council president. Lovey credited bookkeeper Lenore Olearchick with keeping everything on track.

“If something came up in a meeting, I wanted to take care of it,” Lovey said. “Before meetings I would go up and ask people why they were there and how I could help them. That is what they elected me for.”

David Lovey said people often told him they appreciated his dad doing that because they might not have to stay for the meeting, and it also made meetings shorter.

Lovey made trips to Harrisburg to meet representatives. He attended Pittsburgh zoning board meetings when St. Margaret Hospital, now UPMC St. Margaret, was going to be built. He wanted to see how this would affect nearby Aspinwall.

“When I retired from council I got letters thanking me,” Lovey said. “People liked how I ran a meeting. I tried to always keep the lines of communication open. I was a public relations guy.”

Lovey served on council under mayors Art Esser and Ben Killian, who he said were both dedicated to the neighborhood. Esser was fire chief and Lovey took the jobs of secretary and treasurer.

“What I wanted to do was have some money in case there is an emergency,” Lovey said, a philosophy he learned from his mother. “I knew we could get some grants, but I also knew we would need additional money to supplement those grants. I became the finance guy. I invested the money well and I am proud of that.”

Lovey helped develop a relief fund to give money to the families of firefighters who died. The fund continues today.

He helped acquire a grant to build a pavilion at Fireman’s Memorial Park. As a volunteer firefighter, Lovey said he was scared going into a burning building, but “that is just what we did.”

“I remember watching my dad run down the street and jump on the back of a fire truck,” David Lovey said.

Former Aspinwall volunteer fire chief and planning commission chairman Nick Scheid said, “The world needs more people like Jack Lovey.”

Scheid, who continues to help the volunteer fire department with paperwork and driving the fire truck, said he met Lovey in 1964.

“He invested our monies and he did well with the investment,” Scheid said.

Scheid recalled when Lovey, a Republican, was meeting with potential replacements for one of the council positions. He chose a Democrat.

“I chose the best person for the job and who I believed fit in with us and what we wanted to do for Aspinwall,” Lovey said.

He said he and his wife have always believed in dedication to the community. A Sharpsburg High School graduate, JoAnn was instrumental in the founding of a girls softball league in Aspinwall and received an award for her work.

Lovey was recognized by the American Legion, where he received a plaque for his more than six decades of service. He wanted to be involved with everything that was happening in Aspinwall. Through JoAnn’s family, he met politician Tom Foerster, who helped get money for trees along the railroad to help block the noise. Lovey helped get new water meters in town.

“I think he learned how to run council meetings well from his job at U.S. Steel,” JoAnn said. “He learned from the best and the smartest at U.S. Steel.”

Lovey said through his career he met former President Ronald Reagan at a meeting of the American Iron and Steel Institute in New York. He was a guest speaker. Lovey also met astronaut John Glenn, who was a U.S. Steel board member.

“He said ‘Hello’ and we shook hands,” said Lovey, a graduate of Etna High School. “I was thrilled to meet him. John Glenn and I had dinner. He was wonderful. I am proud of my career at U.S. Steel. When I retired, they asked me to come back as a consultant for a stockholders meeting.”

Lovey met Bob Hope at the Duquesne Club in Downtown Pittsburgh. Lovey flew on private planes and was chauffeured.

He retired a few months before his 65th birthday.

His boss, Chuck Corry, U.S. Steel chairman, asked Lovey why he was leaving.

“All my friends had retired, and like my brother-in-law said, ‘Jack, don’t look back,’ ” Lovey said.

Lovey is a person who will talk to you about a problem or situation and work to find a solution, said Lee Albacker, a former fire chief and public works supervisor.

“He is a great guy,” Albacker said. “He has done so much for Aspinwall. He is a good listener. If something was wrong, he wanted to fix it. He cared about the town and the people in this town.”