Gene Ammirante has been coaching at different levels on both sides of the river in the Ohio Valley for more than 40 years. He credits his family, especially his late wife, Pam, for encouraging him to pursue his latest job as an assistant at Wheeling Park.

WHEELING — Thanksgiving is just that — giving thanks for what we have.

It’s also an opportunity to express gratitude for what we’ve had; to praise the blessings, and people, that have come through our lives.

Gene Ammirante will do that today, not once, but twice.

He’ll dine with his side of the family first. Then, later, the longtime educator and prep basketball coach will spend cherished moments with his wife’s family.

There’ll be a void. Pam Ammirante won’t be there. She died from cancer on Jan. 5, 2017 at the age of 63.

Pam will be there in spirit, though, and in the heart of a husband who continues to carry his partner of more than 45 years with him in everything he does. In fact, without her, he wouldn’t be doing what he does best — coach.

As an assistant for the Wheeling Park boys, Ammirante is producing a second act that his late wife would certainly be proud of.

“I went back, only because Pam wanted me to,” he said. “I wasn’t going to go back. I absolutely wasn’t going to go back. Not because I didn’t like it, but because we were going in and out of doctors and things.

“Only because Pam told me. It was the only reason. It was.”

Family is, has and always will be the No. 1 priority in Ammirante’s life. It’s a lesson he first learned from his parents, Jerry and Josephine, Italian immigrants who lived and operated a small store on 18th Street in Wheeling and didn’t speak English. That’s also where the seeds were first planted for his Hall of Fame coaching career.

“My mom didn’t know a basketball from a pumpkin,” Ammirante said laughing. “But they were my two greatest mentors.”

Coach A recalls his dad being able to relate to anyone that walked into his store. One minute, he recalled, his dad would be conversing with a doctor or a lawyer. The next minute? An indigent from Catholic Charities.

“That taught me about teammwork,” Ammirante said.

Then, there were the times his mother would ask him to place spaghetti on the table.

“Everyone had to be very meticulous,” he said. “There, I learned organization. I learned to be organized.”

It wasn’t until years later, though, that Ammirante put those lessons to the test. In fact, he really didn’t play basketball at all in high school.

Ammirante only played hoops at Wheeling Central Catholic his sophomore year, but one of his best friends at school did — Tom Bechtel — now his boss at the Wheeling Recreation Department.

“After we got done delivering his papers, we’d go down to the Elks playground and play,” Ammirante remembered. “It was great.”

Ammirante played a lot more after high school, but he spent more time watching Bechtel play at Wheeling College and another buddy, Rick Nau, play at Old Dominion.

Later, Ammirante was teaching at St. James and John Grade School when he was thrust into coaching at Bishop Donahue when friend Mark Matz had to miss a few days. The “off the cuff” assignment led to a choice when Matz took the head job at Bellaire in 1976 and asked Ammirante to join him as his reserve boss.

“Pam was pregnant with our son Jerry and the insurance was better there,” he said smiling.

Thus began a nearly three-decade stint at the Belmont County school. A plethora of championships and accolades followed, but what stands out most for Ammirante are the friendships made and careers cultivated.

It was at Bellaire where guys like Kim Clifford and Jeff Sabatino got their starts. Both recently retired following successful stints at St. Clairsville and Martins Ferry, respectively, seeing them carve out their own niches means everything for Ammirante.

“I think about the people,” he said. “I was so lucky to fall into (that job). The biggest thing I’ll always remember is that I got the chance to coach my nephew (J.R. Battista) and my son (Jerry). And then, later on, I got to coach with them.

“That’s been my greatest thrill.”

Father and son have been reunited at “The Palace on the Hill.”

Jerry is on Head Coach Michael Jebbia’s staff, too. The pair were teammates at then West Liberty State College.

“I’ve been lucky, just lucky,” Ammirante said. “The good Lord has looked after me. The basketball Gods have looked after me.

“I got to coach with my son and nephew at Bellaire. I went to Bridge Street (Middle School) and got to coach with my daughter and now I’m coaching with Jerry again at Park.”

Yes, Ammirante also coached with his daughter, Lindsay, for a time. He served as her assistant, coaching boys, many of whom he’s mentoring now at the high school level.

“I’ve had a lot of those kids since seventh grade,” he smiled. “It’s been fun.

“Who gets to coach kids from their time as seventh graders until they time they graduate? Not very often.”

It was after Ammirante’s stint at Bridge Street when Jebbia approached him about helping him with the Patriots. But by this time Pam’s illness had enveloped her.

“Initially, I wasn’t going to do it,” he said. “We were going back and forth to Columbus for treatments at Ohio State’s James Cancer Center every two weeks.”

Those were “dark days,” he said. Only one family member was allowed to stay in the hospital room with Pam and Lindsay usually did that, leaving Ammirante staying in a motel.

“But in the dark came a ray of sunshine,” he said. “One day, Joey Galloway asked me to his house for dinner.”

Ammirante was joined at the home of the former Bellaire and Ohio State standout by ex-Bellaire grid boss John Magistro and a few other notable ex-Bellaire athletes for an evening of friends and camaraderie.

“It was sort of a respite in the middle of darkness,” Ammirante remembered. “We had a good time.

“Even in the gloom, we had a little sunshine in there.”

Later, as Pam fought her illness at home, the family celebrated Coach A’s birthday with a surprise party. It was there that she encouraged him to take Jebbia up on his offer.

“It’s been a Godsend,” he said. “It’s been rewarding. Plus, the evenings are longer than they used to be.

“It keeps me busy and give some a purpose.”

It also allows him to pay it forward like some coaches did for him when he first picked up a whistle.

“The thing I like is that Michael has faith in me and trusts me,” Coach A said. “He let’s me be involved. I’m not a wallflower.”

Ammirante said he’s free to show his emotions, and does often, imparting his hoops knowledge often on eager-listening players.

“Once you show that you care about them improving, I think you’ve earned the right to be heard.”

Ammirante doesn’t know how long his gig at Park will last, but he’ll enjoy it while it does. In the meantime, he’ll spend as much time with his family as possible, especially his grandsons Milano and Sorrento, who are the apples of his eye.

And every now and then, he’ll make the drive out National Road to Mount Calvary Cemetery with a letter for his beloved Pam in hand. For him, it’s a moment of reflection and remembrance.

“When I go up there, I actually sit in the little seat there in mausoleum,” he said. “I’ll actually get out the letter that I wrote because sometimes I forget some of the things I wrote.

“I pull it out and I read it. It’s always about things that are happening or are going on.

“It’s cathartic. It makes me feel good because I always say this — sometimes perception is more important than reality. And when I read those things it’s like it’s not reality, but it’s perception for me. And sometimes perception is a little more important than reality.”