Walter Smerconish, Devoted To Doylestown Community, Dies At 88

Patch
Walter Smerconish "loved and was deeply rooted in the Doylestown community," his obituary says.

Obituary/photo Via Joseph A. Fluehr III Funeral Home:

Walter Nicholas Smerconish, of Doylestown, PA died on Thursday, October 11, 2018, at Doylestown Hospital. He was 88. He was originally from the company coal town of Audenreid, Pennsylvania, the son of a mine foreman, Wasil, and Mildred Walker Smerconish.

Walt was a 1947 Graduate of West Hazleton High School. He then went on to receive a Bachelor’s of Science from Bloomsburg State Teachers College and served in the US Army during the Korean Conflict. Soon after returning home he moved to Doylestown with his then wife, Florence Smerconish Cohn, and worked as an Educator in the Central Bucks School District from 1959 to 1993, first as a teacher of social studies, and then as a guidance counselor. During this time, he completed his own education by receiving his M.Ed. in Counseling in 1967 from Lehigh University.

Walt’s passions were fly fishing and football. (He’d be disappointed to know if his favorite fishing spot in the Poconos were revealed with any specificity.) For twenty-five years, he was a football referee at the junior high, high school and college level. He routinely officiated in the Bux-Mont, Suburban One, Philadelphia Catholic and Ivy Leagues. Once, he officiated a scrimmage between the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins at Albright College in Reading. One protégé of Walt was Scott Green who became an NFL referee and officiated three Super Bowls. In the Mike Pettine era of Central Bucks West football, Walt was proud to serve for twenty years as the team’s field announcer for home games at War Memorial Field.

Walt loved and was deeply rooted in the Doylestown community. He served as Director of the Jaycees, was President of the Doylestown Youth Recreation Council, served on the Board of the Central Bucks YMCA, organized the Youth Committee for the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce, ran the adult education program at the Bucks County Prison, and was a Trustee of the Bucks County Community College, among many responsibilities. He formerly belonged to both the Rotary Club and Union Horse Company. In 2010 he was inducted into the Central Bucks-Central Bucks West Hall of Fame as a Community Service Leader.

He is survived by his two sons, Walter S. Smerconish of Haverford, and Michael A. Smerconish and his wife Lavinia of Villanova, as well as his sister, Anna Hauze, of West Hazleton, PA. He is also survived by his 8 grandchildren.

Friends may call between 5:00-7:00pm Monday, October 15, 2018 at the Joseph A. Fluehr III Funeral Home 241 East Butler Ave., (at Sandy Ridge Rd.) New Britain, PA 18901. His interment will be held privately.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to the Mike Pettine Foundation, 36 Heritage Lane, New Britain, PA 18901. https://mikepettinefoundation.org/project/scholarship-fund/