Influential educator who knew how to motivate people

Joseph Stevan Werlinich was a modest, humble man who had no reason to be.

The son of a Serbian immigrant, he turned down a career as a professional athlete to become a lifelong educator who knew how to motivate people. He was a civil rights activist who marched with Martin Luther King Jr., and who was trusted by dozens of school districts with the task of finding superintendents to lead their schools.

If he were asked though, Mr. Werlinich would probably have said it was his role as a mentor, friend and family man that was chief among his many accomplishments, said those who knew him best.

Mr. Werlinich, 87, died Tuesday of complications from pneumonia, surrounded by loved ones at his home in Pine.

“I’ve lost my best friend,” said Otto Graf, 72, of Mt. Lebanon, who partnered with Mr. Werlinich for more than 30 years as co-director of the Western Pennsylvania Principals Academy. “This has not been an easy time for me.”

Mr. Werlinich founded the academy in 1981 at the University of Pittsburgh, where he worked for 47 years as a professor in the university’s school of education, until his retirement in 2012.

Hundreds of local administrators graduated with a post-degree certificate in the program, which he and Mr. Graf kept going in recent years through the Allegheny County Intermediate Unit.

In an October 2004 story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mr. Werlinich was nominated by his peers as one of the most influential educators in the region, a distinction of which he was especially proud, Mr. Graf said.

“He’s really renowned in this region,” Mr. Graf said. “It’s why the academy was so effective. People loved Joe. He was genuine about just wanting people to be their best.”

In more recent years, Mr. Werlinich worked as a consultant for districts throughout the region, conducting superintendent searches and other work.

Mr. Werlinich was born and raised in McKees Rocks, where he graduated from McKees Rocks High School in 1947. During his high school years, he played baseball, basketball and football.

He spent his undergraduate years at three colleges, pursuing various sports opportunities, and graduated from Thiel College in 1952. During a summer break, he played minorleague baseball for the Richmond Colts, part of the Piedmont League.

After graduation, Mr. Werlinich joined the U.S. Marines and fought in the Korean War. A captain, Mr. Werlinich was commander of the 1st Reconnaissance Company of the 2nd Marine Division. He later served as a casualty officer, visiting families of young men killed in the fighting.

Loved ones said his experiences left Mr. Werlinich passionately opposed to war and spawned his commitment to end conflict when he saw it.

Part of that devotion included marching with Martin Luther King Jr. in Birmingham, Ala., and later, his work promoting diversity and curbing racism as co-director of the University of Pittsburgh’s National Multi-Cultural Center.

Mr. Werlinich also served as a board member for the Urban League of Pittsburgh in the 1960s, providing training and summer programs for leaders in education and industry that focused on supporting racial equality and diversity.

Mr. Werlinich was one of a handful of white men who walked in Pittsburgh marches, he said in a paper he later wrote about his work in civil rights. His involvement didn’ t go unnoticed.

“My participation led to my being photographed and having my photograph distributed as a possible ‘troublemaker’ to the Pittsburgh police and a number of municipal police forces in the Pittsburgh region,” he wrote.

After his war service, Mr. Werlinich, a lineman, was a late draft pick of the Cleveland Browns, but he chose to forgo the career in favor of becoming a teacher and coach at Mercer High School.

He returned to Thiel College for a time, serving as assistant dean, dean of students and for one year as interim president.

Mr. Werlinich earned a graduate degree in education from Pitt in 1956, and joined the faculty of the school of education in 1965.

By1998, Mr. Werlinich felt the principal’s academy needed another guiding hand, said Mr. Graf, who was principal of Mt. Lebanon High School at the time.

“Joe wanted to expand the principals academy and he asked me if I’d be interested in being the co-director,” he said.

As the men worked together over the decades, they grewcloser, Mr. Graf said.

“It went from a professional relationship to a friendship,” he said. “We did consulting for districts across the country.”

Mr. Werlinich was also a devout family man, said his son-in-law, Dave DeVenzio, 64, of Pine.

“I couldn’t have handpicked a better father-inlaw,” said Mr. DeVenzio, who is married to Mr. Werlinich’s daughter, Amy DeVenzio. “He was just so easy to talk to and so openminded.”

In 1989, Mr. Werlinich married Pat Buchanan Dunkis, a principal in the Upper St. Clair School District, who he met when she joined the principals academy.

Along with his wife and daughter, Mr. Werlinich is survived by daughters Sheri Benson of Tampa, Fla., and Kathy Latorre of Slippery Rock; son Joseph of Fountain Valley, Calif.; brothers Stevan of Dayton, Md., and Samuel of Siesta Key, Fla.; 10 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Friends will be received at the Schellha as Franklin Park Funeral Home, 1600 Stone Mansion Drive from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturday and from 12 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

A Kiva Circle, similar to the ones used by Mr. Werlinich at the end of each term for students to reflect on their growth, will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday. Former students are encouraged to attend and share their memories. Burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to: Development, Manchester Bidwell Corp., 1815 Metropolitan St., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15233.