Regis M. Stefanik, Reporter For The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Bill Schenley
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04035/269143.stm
Regis M. Stefanik, a reporter for the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette for more than two decades, died Sunday of
pneumonia in Allegheny General Hospital. He was 66.
During his career, Mr. Stefanik, of Kiskiminetas, Armstrong
County, covered real estate, worked on the night city desk
and reported on happenings in suburban communities. Before
joining the Post-Gazette staff, Mr. Stefanik worked as a
reporter for the Kittanning Tribune and the New Haven
(Conn.) Gazette.
"He wasn't the easiest person to manage, but he was a real
character of the old school with a wry sense of humor," said
Reg Henry, deputy editorial page editor, who supervised Mr.
Stefanik as city editor.
"He was a smart and resourceful general assignment reporter,
the sort of guy that could talk his way into the Duquesne
Club -- as he once did -- when he didn't have a coat."
Mr. Stefanik, a recipient of the American Political Science
Fellowship Award, was a graduate of St. Vincent Preparatory
School and the University of Pittsburgh. He also attended
the University of Glasgow in Scotland, where he received his
master's degree in journalism.
He was a member of St. Ambrose Church in Avonmore.
"My father was a very generous person," said Colleen
Stefanik, 34, of Washington, Westmoreland County. "He was
very loving and very sweet. He had an excellent sense of
humor."
Stefanik said that her father was her "inside track" for
information when she was a student at Apollo-Ridge High
School. She said Mr. Stefanik, while working the night shift
at the Post-Gazette, would supply her with news articles and
information for a current events class.
"He would come home very late and put the articles on the
table and when I got up in the morning I would read them
before school," she said. "I would go to school and present
the information to everyone else before they had a chance to
read it in the paper. The teacher would always ask how I
knew that and I would say, 'Just wait, you'll see.' "
Stefanik said her father enjoyed traveling, especially to
New York City, where he enjoyed visiting Central Park and
attending the theater.
Mr. Stefanik was an avid sports fan who favored college
football. His three favorite teams were Notre Dame, the
University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia.
"[Regis] was a fixture at Pitt football games," said Carl
Remensky, associate editor in sports at the Post-Gazette.
"He would always watch from the press box. I don't know if
he ever missed a game."
In addition to his daughter, Mr. Stefanik is survived by a
brother, Dennis Stefanik, of Oakdale.
Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. today
at Curran-Shaffer Funeral Home Inc., 100 Owens View Ave.,
Apollo.
A Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday in Our Lady
Queen of Peace Church in East Vandergrift.
Burial will follow in Riverview Cemetery in Apollo.