Penn Hills teacher killed in crash remembered for inspiring devotion to students

Joshua “Josh” Willy was a popular social studies and gifted program instructor at Penn Hills High School who was known for warmly welcoming students at the start of the school day and offering them inspiration and encouragement.

The 49-year-old husband and father of three died Friday morning after his car plunged from Pittsburgh’s Parkway East and came to rest in a stream below.

A phone message left Saturday afternoon for Willy’s family wasn’t immediately returned.

Among those he left a lasting impression on were Penn Hills resident Jennifer Lackey and her son, Kai, a ninth grader in an honors civics course Willy taught.

“It’s Kai’s first year in high school, and he was one of the teachers he looked up to,” Lackey said.

“He was always very nice, pleasant and in a good mood,” she said of Willy.

When Lackey carpooled her son and some of his friends to school, Willy was the first staff member standing ready to greet them with a smile and conversation.

Answering off-the-cuff questions posed by the students during those brief talks, Willy revealed his fondness for peanut butter cups and his interest in the Revolutionary War period.

At the school’s open house, Lackey said, “We hung out with him. There were a lot of kids there who didn’t have him for a class; they just wanted to spend time with him.”

“It is a tragedy that is affecting our entire community,” Penn Hills Mayor Pauline Calabrese said. ”Our hearts go out to the family.”

“He was a phenomenal teacher,” school board President Erin Vecchio said, noting Willy’s 23 years of service to the district. “He helped every kid, not just his own students. It wasn’t just about the books; he actually got to know them.

“The whole community is shocked.”

“This is such a tragic loss for Penn Hills,” said one of Willy’s former students, Deena Geminetti. “He will be deeply missed. He was a teacher who really heard, understood and inspired his students.”

Geminetti was one of Willy’s history students during the 2006-07 academic year at the district’s Linton Middle School.

“He then became a high school teacher,” she said. “Even though I wasn’t his student in high school, he’d still check up on me until I graduated in 2012.”

Many former students, including Geminetti, recalled one of the inspirational phrases Willy was known to use.

”He would have us recite every day in class: ‘Good, better, best … never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best,’ ” she said. “And he was willing and able to help you achieve it.”

“He was awesome,” associate high school Principal Jacqueline Dorsett said. “He built relationships with our students. He had the students engaged and they loved him. He can capture their attention and make them want to learn.”

Dorsett spoke near the end of an informal gathering of students and staff Saturday in the high school auditorium. About 100 people attended the gathering that included prayer with clergy on hand from Penn Hills and the surrounding areas.

Those attending were signing a banner as a tribute to Willy. It will remain up next week for more people to sign.

Dorsett said students were talking about Willy and what they want to see happen, including a memorial service, having the Jan. 28 basketball game with Shaler dedicated to him and a ribbon on his classroom door.

Support will be available this coming week for students and teachers. Students are scheduled to return Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, but that is uncertain given the forecast for extreme cold.

Retired Penn Hills teacher Claire Dice, who led an honors biology course, said she and Willy taught many of the same gifted students.

”He was devoted to our Penn Hills family, and we liked having conversations about the many students we shared. We both cared about them reaching their potential and achieving their dreams.

“He coached them for (the quiz show) ‘Hometown High Q’ and sat with them to talk about their futures. He was a gentleman and spoke that way — in a gentle, soft manner.”

She recalled when Willy, of Oakdale, paid a summer visit to her Pleasant Hills home more than a decade ago. She was considering hiring him related to his side job of painting houses, but he suggested it would better to retain the natural finish of her new wooden patio cover.

“He convinced us that it was probably better to not paint it at all,” she said. “Anyone else would have taken the job.”

Dice said she and Willy also shared a passion for Penn State sports.

Willy contributed to youth sports in the South Fayette community.

According to the organizer of a GoFundMe drive set up to benefit his family, he was involved in youth baseball and basketball programs.

He was head coach of the South Fayette Lions 14U ball team.

The crash that claimed Willy occurred as he was traveling outbound on the Parkway East and had gone through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel about 8:30 a.m.

The vehicle then “traveled over the guard rail,” tumbled down a roughly five-story hillside and came to rest in part of the Nine Mile Run stream, according to authorities.

The crash scene is in the 1200 block of Commercial Street, a stretch of parkland that straddles Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill and Swisshelm Park neighborhoods. A Parkway East bridge next to the hillside stands about 85 feet above Commercial Street.

Another fatal crash occurred in the same area on Dec. 17, 2023. According to state police, Ronald Russell Richards, 50, of Plum drove off the Parkway East on the Swissvale side of the Squirrel Hill Tunnel and traveled down a steep, wooded embankment, coming to rest in a ravine about 200 feet below.

Richards’ SUV left the roadway on the same bridge.

TribLive asked local PennDOT officials about safety issues there.

While Willy’s fatal crash remains under investigation, PennDOT spokesman Steve Cowan noted a medical emergency was involved in the 2023 wreck.

Cowan said the bridge is slated for replacement as part of a $95 million project. Construction is in the early stages, with work occurring below the existing bridge.

In the meantime, he said, “We are looking into options to reduce future incidents of this type until the new bridge is completed. The new bridge will have a widened roadway and a concrete barrier to protect the drop-off.”

According to project plans, the replacement bridge will be built on temporary foundations just south of the existing bridge and will be slid into place following demolition of the current structure. New overhead signage and an eastbound retaining wall are to be installed.