SHADYSIDE — In nearly 20 years in this profession, I’ve written a handful of memorial columns. And in full disclosure mode, none are easy, but the one you are about to read was by far the most difficult.

Monday afternoon at Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, the Ohio Valley sports community lost not only an impactful person, but also one of its biggest supporters.

Shadyside resident Arthur “Butch” Joseph — a member of the OVAC Hall of Fame — died at the age of 73 after a corageous battle with an illness.

Though Joseph liked all sports and coached many, it was in track and cross country where he — and his wife, Donna — left the biggest impact.

Quite simply, the Josephs and track and cross country are synonymous. No one can — or will even try to — argue it.

It doesn’t matter the scope of the sports either. Whether it was in Shadyside, the Ohio Valley, the Eastern District, the region or at the state level, when you talk about track and cross country, the name Butch Joseph resonates.

After all, he’s worn all of the hats involved in both sports. Coaching? Yes! Officiating? Yes! Meet management? Yes!

The most awesome part of Butch Joseph’s involvement, in my opinion, was that he and Donna, who is also a member of the OVAC Hall of Fame, did it together. Whether it was stuffing packets for the Shadyside Relays, officiating the OHSAA State Track and Field Championships or running the computers at the OVAC Cal Giffin Championship, it was a total team effort from the Josephs.

Until Butch’s health started to go downhill, you never saw one without the other. Whether it was watching their grandchildren — Jillian or Jordan — compete in athletics at Shadyside or working meets, the Josephs were the ultimate team.

I won’t go as far as to say there weren’t some heated moments or minor disagreements between the two because I witnessed some of them with my own ears and eyes. However, it was always resolved and it was always for the good of the meet and the athletes taking part. Those are hall of fame qualities.

That ability to work and communicate as a team carried over to Butch’s efforts in sports. A long-time employee at Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, Joseph was always into running, but became heavily involved in sports through his wife, who was an educator and coach at Shadyside.

Butch became a volunteer assistant coach with the Tigers’ boys track team in the 70s, simply after he approached Jack Berger because he had a desire to help.

Berger was so impressed with Joseph — as a person — that he basically handed the distance runners over to him that season.

John Ciszewski, who was a member of the Shadyside track team when Joseph was on the coaching staff, recalled Joseph’s impact quite vividly.

“Roger Lewis and Larry Irwin were the top distance runners in my class and they respected Butch so much, his passion for the sport would come across in just one conversation,” Ciszewski said. “He had a knack for when those two thought they couldn’t run another lap, of getting even more out of them.”

When you put Joseph’s passion for track and field with that of Tom Vichich, who was the coach of the Tigers during their 1976 state track and field championship season, Berger and Jerry Narcisi, you end up with one of Ohio’s longest-running, small-school track meets. Yes, Joseph and Vichich were two of the driving forces behind the creation of the Shadyside Relays.

“We were chalking the track for the OVAC meet at Shadyside and we were on the back stretch, Coach Vichich threw out the idea of hosting our own relays,” Ciszewski said.

“Right away, Butch jumped on board, Coach Berger supported it and here we are some 45 years later. I read the ‘Unsung Hero’ piece in the paper every week and no one was more deserving back then than Butch. He really flew under the radar with the track teams in the 70s, but he was an integral part to the teams’ success.”

Narcisi first met Joseph in 1971 when he returned to the Ohio Valley from college. Because of their mutual love for track and field, the two hit it off immediately and formed what Narcisi called “a life-long” friendship.

“Butch and I had many common interests, especially working with youth and our student-athletes,” Narcisi said. “Butch especially took great pleasure in working with student-athletes. His impact in Shadyside and throughout the Ohio Valley was huge. He certainly ‘paid it forward.'”

Along with serving together in the organization and management of the Shadyside Relays, Narcisi and Joseph also officiated numerous meets together, which led to some interesting memories and stories.

“The trips we made throughout the Ohio Valley and beyond are things I’ll remember fondly,” Narcisi said. “Butch would drive his van and a dozen of us would crowd in there. When we’d arrive, people laughed about how long it took us to unload.”

Joseph’s impact on the cross country program was just as strong as the track program. Maybe even more since his wife was the head coach of both the boys and girls teams. That distance training he received at Bellaire High School under the legendary Cal Giffin continued to pay dividends.

Dale Lewis — a 1999 Shadyside graduate — was a key cog in highly successful Tiger cross country teams, which won three OVAC titles and competed at the state meet on multiple occasions.

Lewis and Joseph remained close long after his time in the Orange and Black. Lewis worked as a track official, serving as a clerk at meets. A lot of times those duties came because Joseph urged him to remain involved. Sometimes Lewis was simply told he was going to be involved.

But, when Joseph asked for something, which wasn’t often, Lewis was always willing to do his part.

“I owe Butch, Donna and the entire family a lot,” Lewis said. “He was a great man to his young athletes. He was the heart and soul of a sport that didn’t get a ton of credit.”

Joseph had that kind of impact on all of the athletes he encountered during his coaching career.

On top of his work in track and cross country, Joseph worked an assistant boys basketball coach. And during a game in 1988, he showed that maybe he had a rare ability to predict the future.

With the Tigers playing in the district semifinal against Garaway at Steubenville’s St. John Arena, Joseph approached John Beckett, who was a junior on that team, and told him, “you will make a play that decides this game, whether it be an assist, rebound, taking a charge or a late basket.”

He then handed Beckett a piece of paper on which he had written, ’61-59, Tigers.”

Twenty-four hours later, Beckett got a layup with five seconds to go, giving Shadyside a 59-57 victory over the Pirates, who were ranked No. 2 in Ohio at the time.

“When the buzzer sounded, (Butch) ran onto the court and gave me the biggest hug I’ve ever received,” Beckett recalled. “It’s something I’ll never forget. Butch was truly a great man … I mean a great man! I have so many great memories with him on the bench during my playing days at Shadyside.”

He also worked under his son, Joel, when Shadyside instituted a volleyball program a handful of years ago.

Though Butch was thought of mostly as a ‘Shadyside guy,’ he was for all of the athletes in the Ohio Valley. He didn’t care about schools or rivalries. He cared much more about the sports flourishing.

Joseph, who was a long-time member of the track and cross country committees, devised the current track format that’s utilized by the OVAC and includes all five classes coming together for a Saturday championship meet. As most people in high-ranking positions, Joseph boasted thick skin and rightfully so. He laid his head on the pillow knowing he was investing fully in the entire sport and OVAC and not just a certain school or state.

Before he was heavily involved in the running sports, Joseph was an assistant OVAC volleyball director and compiled the conference standings for many years. He was an absolute lock for the OVAC Family wing of the Hall of Fame. It was exciting to see him receive the call to the hall before his passing.

OVAC Executive Secretary Tom Rataicak, who graduated high school a year behind Joseph, said there are plans to honor him in some capacity, but details hadn’t been finalized.

“My happiness came when he got into the OVAC Hall of Fame,” Rataiczak said. “A lot of people think of Butch as from Shadyside or from Bellaire, but he never looked at himself that way. He was passionate about those two communities and schools, but he was ultimately passionate about all runners and the sports of track and cross country. I can think of very few people who were as passionate about running as Butch was. His passing isn’t just a loss to the OVAC, but it’s a loss to Eastern Ohio, the Eastern District and the state of Ohio.”

On a personal note, Butch and I became friends when I was in high school in the 90s. Donna, who taught me math at Shadyside, was the head cross country and girls track coach at the time. She asked me if I’d be interested in helping out her teams by being a statistician. I had a foundation for track from watching my cousin run for St. Clairsville in the late 80s, but the only thing I knew about cross country was the people who did it ran far and I wanted no part of that. But, as a sports junkie and anxious to be involved as much as possible, I accepted her invitation.

As they say, the rest is history. My passion for both sports, which I still cover and love watching to this day, grew tremendously from spending time with Butch and Donna. I want to publicly credit and thank ‘the first family of Ohio Valley running sports’ for that.

Butch will definitely be missed not only by me, but by everyone who ever encountered him. Track and cross country meets won’t be the same, but one thing’s for sure, both sports are on solid footing and in good hands because of the effort, work and passion Butch Joseph invested.

To Donna, Joel, Jared, Jillian, Jordan and his entire family, I express my deepest sympathy.

Godspeed, Butch!

Staskey can be reached via email at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com or at Twitter.com/TLSportsSeth