Waitress, hostess at Three Rivers Stadium’s Allegheny Club
Linda Maxwell was at a Baseball Hall of Fame event in New York City in 1993 when she saw Willie Stargell, the former Pittsburgh Pirates star who helped the franchise win two World Series in the 1970s.
She walked up to Mr. Stargell and introduced herself as the daughter of Elsie Pluhowski, a longtime worker at the Allegheny Club of Three Rivers Stadium.
“He lit up like a Christmas tree,” Ms. Maxwell recalled. “He said, ‘Oh, my goodness, how’s your mom?’ It was so familiar. They were friends and there was a special closeness about that.”
Mrs. Pluhowski worked for nearly three decades as a waitress and hostess at the Allegheny Club, a private club at Three Rivers Stadium that could accommodate up to 300 people for a view of the field.
During those years, she struck up friendships and acquaintances with a number of Pittsburgh sports figures — former Steelers halfback Rocky Bleier, former Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann and Steelers owner Dan Rooney, to name a few.
Mrs. Pluhowski died Feb. 8 at the home of another daughter, Joyce P. Hildenbrand, in Morris Plains, N.J. Ms. Maxwell also was at her side that day. Mrs. Pluhowski was 95.
The daughters described their mother as someone who was dedicated not only to her job, but to developing relationships with everyone she came across. Mrs. Pluhowski began working at the Allegheny Club when Three Rivers Stadium opened in 1971. She remained there for 26 years, retiring at 75 a few years before the stadium was demolished in 2001.
She was born in Perryopolis, Pa., on Aug. 30, 1922, and became a Pirates fan through listening to game broadcasts on the radio in her high school principal’s office.
After graduating from Perry Township High School, Mrs. Pluhowski moved to Detroit, where she worked for the federal government during World War II. After initially making artillery shells, she supervised an inspection team for the Grumman F6F Hellcat, earning a Navy letter of commendation.
“It was the best job you could have in Pittsburgh for a waitress,” Betty Katchure, a former co-worker of Mrs. Pluhowski, said of the club. Ms. Katchure worked there from 1971 until it closed in 2001. “We all put 30 years in there. We were hired when it was built and we left when they tore it down.
“I spent the best of my life in there and I think the rest of them felt the same way. Elsie did a very good job as a hostess. She was well liked by the people whocameinthere.”
A celebration of Mrs. Pluhowski’s life will be held at 11 a.m. April 28 at Memorial Park Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 8800 Peebles Road, McCandless. A luncheon will follow the service.