Well Dun: Remembering Teddy Loftus

Posted on July 3, 2024 by The Dunmorean

Passing of Teddy Loftus felt by local youth leagues across several boroughs

By Steve Svetovich

If you played basketball or baseball in a local youth league anywhere in Lackawanna County in the past three decades, you knew Teddy Loftus.

And there is a pretty good chance he remembered your name and made some type of impact.

Born and raised in Dunmore, Teddy’s life was tragically taken from us Friday, June 21, when a vehicle he was driving was hit by a tractor-trailer about 3 a.m, on Interstate 380 South and 84 East in Roaring Brook Township.

State police reported the 2022 Kenworth tractor-trailer was traveling in the far right lane near the I-380 south/I-84 east split and made an unsafe lane change into the far left lane to get off at the I-84 exit in Roaring Brook Township. The truck hit the car driven by Loftus that was traveling in the center lane going south on I-380.

According to the coroner, Loftus, 60, died from traumatic injuries suffered in the crash,

The male driver of the tractor-trailer, from Sarasota, Florida, was arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person, and various summary offenses.

Loftus, a graduate of Bishop O’Hara High School and East Stroudsburg University, was driving a 2010 Chevrolet Malibu.

Loftus was a beloved and well-known basketball referee and baseball umpire throughout several towns and boroughs in Lackawanna County and a bit beyond. He was a PIAA official.

Loftus’ passion for refereeing and umpiring was fueled by his love for sports and commitment to helping others, especially local youth.

Parents and student-athletes were shocked and saddened by the passing of Loftus. This was evidenced by various Facebook posts across almost every town and borough representing youth leagues in Lackawanna County.

Chris Stone met him almost two decades ago when he and Loftus were refereeing youth biddy basketball for seventh and eighth graders.

“I remember him refereeing in a youth basketball league with 100 young athletes,” he said.

“He memorized every kid’s name. He was a kind, gentle man who really cared.”

This scribe came to know Loftus as he refereed and umpired my two sons’ biddy and youth leagues over the past 25 years. He umpired a Sunday game in the Tri-Valley Baseball League which my son Dylan played in just five days before his tragic passing.

My son Dylan told me he was one of his favorite umpires, often taking the time to chat between pitches and showing a genuine interest in every player.

“He would keep you entertained between pitches. He was complimentary and would remember things about every player.

“He has been refereeing my basketball games and umpiring my baseball games since I was a little kid. I always looked forward to seeing him there.”

This scribe remembers Loftus as a biddy basketball referee at Holy Rosary in North Scranton. Loftus would occasionally call a foul on a player, so that a kid who had not scored would get an opportunity to make a couple foul shots. Or he would call a timeout with a few seconds left to make sure a kid who didn’t score also got his chance for a basket. He would stop a game, so a kid could make a shot.

And it’s true that he remembered every single kid’s name.

Those are the things you remember about Teddy Loftus. He had an impact not only on the best players, but on every single one of them.

Jerry Capone, a 1979 Dunmore graduate and retired teacher in the Wallenpaupack School District, was Loftus’ close friend since their Dunmore Little League days. “Dunmore and the surrounding communities have lost a beautiful soul and very caring baseball umpire and basketball official who always had every single kid’s best interest in mind when he worked a game. Friends since Little League, I will miss him dearly.

“Life is short, unpredictable and not always fair. Teddy recently texted me several times wishing me and my wife Happy Anniversary and congratulations on our son’s wedding. He always cared about others,”

Old Forge baseball coach Tony DiMattia partnered as a basketball official with Loftus over a dozen times. “This is gut wrenching,” he said. “I worked with Teddy as a basketball official. As a baseball coach, Teddy umpired over 30 of my games. He will be missed. I am heartbroken for his kids and family.

“Teddy was a guy who was always willing to teach kids the game while he officiated. This was especially apparent at the youth level where you often would see him encouraging kids as they played.

“Working a basketball game with Teddy was as fun an experience as you can have as an official.”

Robert Sarafinko, a veteran in the Tri-Valley Baseball League always enjoyed seeing Loftus calling games as an umpire.

“I loved when Mr. Loftus was behind the plate when I pitched,” he said. “He was one of the best umpires in the league. His loss will be felt. My condolences to his entire family. May he rest in peace.”

Former West Scranton basketball standout Cullen Fanning, now a PIAA basketball and football official, had the chance to both perform under Loftus as a player and later work with him as an official. “The impact he had on local youth was very meaningful,” he said.

“I’ve known him since I was seven years old playing basketball at Saint Anne’s in West Scranton. Later I was able to officiate with him.

“He cared so much about the kids and always wanted the best out of everyone. He was really a great guy and will be missed.”

Local baseball umpire Leo D’Angelo knew him well. “He was a very good umpire,” he said. “He looked out for the kids and they liked him a lot.”

Son of the late Donald and Anne Walsh Loftus, Teddy was a standout basketball and baseball player at Bishop O’Hara High School in Dunmore.

His monumental impact on various communities will be felt for years to come. Almost every youth league in every borough of Lackawanna County had a heartfelt post on Facebook about his impact on local youth following his passing.

He was known for his big heart and childlike, clever demeanor which would bring a laugh to anyone around him. A baseball enthusiast, he was also an avid sightseer.

Teddy cared for all of the kids in the local youth leagues, but he fiercely loved his family and made sure everyone knew it. He had three children who he loved dearly.

He is survived by a son, Jack, and wife, Aspen Loftus, Las Vegas, Nevada; two daughters, Maddie Loftus, Harrisburg, and Sydney Loftus, Dunmore; three brothers, Donald and wife Jeanne Loftus, Dunmore: Joe, and wife, Mariliz Loftus, Scranton: and Richard “Rocky” and wife, Carol Loftus, Atlanta, Georgia; and three sisters, Marsia and husband John Kohanski, Dunmore: Deanne Loftus and husband Conall Killeen, Dunmore: Karen Loftus and husband, Steven Zaretsky, Hardeville, South Carolina; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Well Dun: Brothers in arms to the end

Posted on June 4, 2024 by The Dunmorean

As you get older in life, you read the obituaries and you start seeing people and friends you knew well. And one day it really hits you hard when the person you are reading about is one of your very best friends.

Take Atty. Jim Gregorowicz, for instance.

One of my best friends in life for the past 49 years, Jim died recently at 62.

This scribe met Jim through his brother Andy at Scranton Prep when he was a freshman there.

Coming from a public school, this scribe, as a sophomore, did not have a lot of friends there until Andy approached me and asked me if I liked playing APBA and Strat-o-Matic baseball board games.

Friends for Life: Shown seated first row from left: The late Atty. Jim Gregorowicz, Brian Bosley, and Ned “Doc” Sweeney. Second row, same order: Mike Booth, Steve Gall, Ted “T.C.” Christy, Dunmorean columnist Steve Svetovich, Andy Gregorowicz, the late Pat O’Malley, Paul “Saki”:Wysocki, and John Gregorowicz.

He heard about that through a mutual friend Tom Reese, his neighbor in Dickson City. He also mentioned he heard from Tom, a former classmate of mine at Robert Morris Elementary School, that I loved baseball. Andy soon became my best friend in high school and that’s how I met his younger brother Jim, a freshman.

I started to meet other people through Jim. Three of those guys, Paul “Saki” Wysocki, Tom “Duggie” Duggan, and Mike Booth became a part of a brotherhood that lasts until this day. We added five more close friends to that group in our college years at the University of Scranton: the late Pat O’Malley, Ned “Doc” Sweeney, Steve Gall, Ted “T.C.” Christy, and Brian Bosley. Jim and Andy’s older brother, John, also was a part of the group.

When I look back at my life, Jim was a huge part of it all. He was my friend through all of the ups and all of the downs.

He was with me in our high school days when I smashed my gold Ford Pinto into a parked car and totaled it on North Washington Avenue in Green Ridge. Jim and I never forgot the date. May 19, 1978. We often talked about it.

He was with me Tuesday, Oct. 21, 1980, when the Philadelphia Phillies, his favorite baseball team, won their first World Series. Our group of friends watched the game at McCourt Hall at the University of Scranton. After Phillies lefty reliever Tug McGraw got the final out, we raced up Mulberry Street to Scanlan’s Saloon shouting, “Tug! Tug! Tug!”

He was with me the night we downed about a dozen free hot dogs each at Scanlan’s like it was nothing. Every time someone turned around to get a hot dog it was gone. Because one of us grabbed it. Jim loved telling that story and insisting to everyone it was me who ate the two dozen hot dogs.

He was with me every single time we snuck into a high school football game and high school and college dances. Even a few concerts. We did it not only because we didn’t have much money, but just to say we did. We would laugh every time.

He was with me when we all started drinking beer from the side of our mouth at Scanlan’s, only because “it tastes better that way.” And we kept doing it way into adulthood. Something else just for a laugh.

He was with me when our buddy Duggie noticed the Scanlan’s juke box incorrectly had Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” listed as “Night Norge.” Every time one of us started talking to a girl trying to get a date or phone number, Duggie would call out, he’s making a “Norge!” Jim got a big kick out of that and it became an inside thing for the group.

He was with me and our group in 1980 when we all saw Springsteen for the first time at The Spectrum in Philadelphia during “The River” tour. We were hooked for life.

He was with me August 10, 1981 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia when Pete Rose broke Stan “The Man” Musial’s National League hit record with number 3,631. No one in the packed house was screaming “Pete, Pete, Pete!” louder than us.

Jim was with me all of those Monday nights we played Strat-o-Matic baseball in our friend T.C.’s apartment. He loved drafting and trading players.

He was with me when we played intramural basketball at the University of Scranton, pickup basketball games as young adults, touch football at Fern Hill in Olyphant, and many Long John Silver’s softball games, which he organized. Jim was always Larry Bowa at shortstop and I was Pete Rose at first base. Those games were epic.

He was with me the 4th of July, 1986, when a group of us trekked out in two old cars to Buffalo to see the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. It was an all-day concert with a 6-hour drive up and 6-hour drive back. The two groups of us lost each other on the highway and somehow we found each other among 100,000 people at Rich Stadium even though it was general admission.

He was with me in Syracuse to see Springsteen on a night the Syracuse police attempted to drag me away for recording a song and when I got on the wrong bus after the concert with our buddy Jack Gilroy and almost ended up in Toronto, Canada, before jumping off and hitchhiking in a blizzard and somehow getting back to the hotel in Syracuse where Jim and the rest of our friends were. Jim was laughing about that during breakfast the next day and all the way home.

He was with me on so many trips to Phillies games, NBA games, and concerts. He was with me at one of Dr. J’s final home games at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. He absolutely loved all sports, especially baseball.

Jim was there during my induction into the Northeastern Chapter of the PA Sports Hall of Fame three years ago. It meant a lot.

He loved music and concerts. It was Jim who got me into the music of Jimmy Buffett, Warren Zevon, Springsteen, Southside Johnny, John Eddie, Dave Mason, and Graham Parker. “Margaritaville” was one of his all-time favorite songs. He loved the life of Jimmy Buffett.

He was with me all of the nights we hung out at Uncle Mike’s in North Scranton and sang ‘American Pie.”

He was with me when we all sang “Thunder Road” together at each other’s weddings.

Jim had a great sense of humor and enjoyed poking fun at the oddities in life. And he poked fun at himself. Like the old Dodge Dart he drove around for years and his “Archie Bunker” winter coat.

He was a huge Philadelphia sports fan, but knew about all of the teams.

He came from a very close Polish family in Dickson City. His parents taught him great middle class values he carried with him in life. He spoke often of his dad coaching him and his brothers in the Dickson City Little League and later helping him set up his law practice. He spoke of the family values and religion he learned from his mom.

He was close to his brothers Andy, John, and Ed and sister Anne Marie and numerous nieces and nephews.

Jim enjoyed the simple things in life. Material things had no importance to him. He was at his best hanging with his friends, talking sports, and playing Long John Silvers softball games.

Jim was also highly intelligent and in his 30’s worked hard to earn his law degree at the University of Baltimore. He had a law practice in Scranton.

But it’s not Jim the attorney his friends knew. It was Jim the person. We all have a special bond that goes beyond someone’s occupation.

Jim loved nicknames. He was the first to call me “scribe” and first to call me “Greek,” which stuck among my closest friends.

One time during a high school study class he kept asking me what my least favorite word is. Finally, I conceded and threw out the word, Germ. “Ok, from now on you’re the Greek Germ,” Jim chuckled. He also liked calling me “Savage Scribe” or “Greek Savage.”

One of his final texts to me was that he spotted a book “Doc Savage” at the local library. “I had to get it,” he texted. Of course, that was a reference to me and our close friend Ned “Doc” Sweeney. Those little things I will miss the most.

He was a big fan of lists. Jim always had a top 10 and wanted to know your top 10. Top 10 NBA centers ever, baseball pitchers ever, TV sitcoms ever, TV character actors ever, baseball hitters ever, football quarterbacks ever, coolest people ever, best bands ever, best single artists ever, best baseball broadcasters ever…

So in dedication to my friend, here are some of the favorites on his lists: Susanna Hoffs, Mike Schmidt, Tug McGraw, Larry Bowa, Steve “Lefty” Carlton, The Joker, Larry Bird, Bill Walton, Wilt, Jimmy Buffett, Dean Martin, James Dean, Clint Eastwood, Babe Ruth, Mike Trout, The Three Stooges, Happy Days, The Fonz, the two Chucks from Happy Days, Uncle Mike’s, Bubba from Sanford and Son, Speed from The Odd Couple, Larry from Bewitched, Larry from Three’s Company, Elvis the King, Bob Dylan, Springsteen, Spike and, Bag from Happy Days, the Dodge Dart, the Philadelphia Phillies, Dragnet, Asbury Park, Norm from Cheers, Smokin’ Joe Frazier, Badlands, Larry Linville from MASH, Bob Costas, Peter Gammons, Tim Kurkjian, Phil “The Scooter” Rizzuto, Richie Ashburn, Harry Kallas…

Digesting the little things in life and finding humor in it all. That was Jim.

Screen Door Slams on Thunder Road.

Rest in peace eternally Jim, my friend for life and beyond.

Well Dun: Connor Pensack Foundation brings awareness for rare disease

Posted on May 1, 2024 by The Dunmorean

By Steve Svetovich

Connor Penasck is one of the sweetest six-year-olds you would want to meet.

And despite his very young age and zest for normal child play, Connor has endured quite a lot of health issues and hospital stays.

He was diagnosed at age three with Very Early Onset Inflammatory Bowel Disease (VEOIBD) Ulcerative Colitis.

Over the course of the past two years, his disease has progressed, and it has been a struggle to find the right course of treatment for him.

Son of Jason and Danielle Pensack, Connor’s parents often found themselves feeling helpless. After one challenging hospital stay, they decided to create a foundation in Connor’s name that allowed the family to spread awareness about VEOIBD and put forth fundraising efforts to raise money for needed research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It is there where Connor is fortunate enough to receive excellent care from doctors who are second to none in their field.

Connor’s mom is the curriculum coordinator for the Dunmore School District. Born and raised in Dunmore, she is a former fourth and fifth grade teacher at the Dunmore Elementary Center.

The second annual Connor Cup will be held Saturday, July 13, at Pine Hills Country Club. Last year the Connor Pensack Foundation raised $15,839 through this fundraiser. The hope is that this year’s tournament will be even bigger and better as more funds are raised for continued research.

Inflammatory bowel disease is the fastest growing autoimmune disorder for children younger than age five.

Each year, the Center for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia treats more than 1,800 young patients who suffer from abdominal pain, intestinal inflammation and other symptoms of this often-debilitating disease.

The past few years produced an explosion of knowledge about the genetics of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and expanded treatment options. Today, expert gastroenterologists, geneticists and researchers work together to evaluate each child’s DNA and microbiome with the goal of developing truly personalized medicine, Walk for Hope funds these discoveries taking us one step closer to a cure.

Connor Pensack is shown with his parents (Jason and Danielle), and his siblings, from left: Connor, Cole, 10, and Cooper, 7, and Sadie, 12.

Connor’s mom said he was originally diagnosed at the Geisinger Danville Children’s Hospital and then again at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “He was having loose stools 12 to 15 times a day,” she said. “There was blood and mucus in his stools daily.

“It all happened in the blink of an eye on a Monday night. He woke up out of a dead sleep with a high fever shaking and mumbling. After a long and uncomfortable night, we knew he needed immediate medical attention. Since then, there have been many stays at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“He has good and bad days now. Some days are better than others. We try to make the best of the situation.”

Connor, 6, is in kindergarten at South Abington Elementary School.

“His school is very accommodating. His teachers are in constant communication with us.”

Connor’s mom credited Dr. Judith Kelsen for her research work of VEOIBD at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Connor was recently chosen as an ambassador for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelpia.

The Walk for Hope fundraiser will take place Sunday, June 9, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

Those wishing to donate to the Connor Pensack Foundation can mail checks to: Connor Pensack Foundation, 503 Hickory Lane, South Abington Township 18411 or directly to First National Community Bank, 269 E, Grove St., Clarks Green, PA 18411.

Proceeds from Connor Pensack Foundation fundraisers will be donated to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia VEO-IBD research.