Melvin B. "Mel" Bassi (November 14, 1926 – May 2, 2007) was an American lawyer, public official, and banker in

Washington County, Pennsylvania Washington County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 209,349. Its county seat is Washington, Pe ...

Early life and family

Bassi was born on November 14, 1926, to an Italian family in

Charleroi, Pennsylvania Charleroi ( ) is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Monongahela River, 21 miles south of Pittsburgh. Charleroi was settled in 1890 and incorporated in 1891. The 2020 census recorded a population of 4,210. Red ...

; his mother Clara was an Italian translator for travel agency and his father Bruno worked in a local mill. He graduated from Charleroi High School in 1944, where he had played football, basketball, and baseball. He later married his high school sweetheart, Lillian, with whom he had four children. After graduation from high school, he joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and became a

signalman A signalman is a rank who makes signals using flags and light. The role has evolved and now usually uses electronic communication equipment. Signalmen usually work in rail transport networks, armed forces, or construction (to direct heavy equi ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. During a typhoon that grounded the destroyer on which he was a shipman, he and his crewmates became stranded on Japanese-occupied

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

. They avoided capture and were later rescued. He later served on the USS Pawnee, where he coincidentally served with a cousin from Charleroi.

Education

After returning from the service, he became the first member of his family to attend college, studying economics at

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian m ...

. There, he was a member of the

Phi Kappa Psi Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania in 1852. The fraternity has over ninety chapters at accredited four-year colleges and uni ...

fraternity and played baseball for four years. He played football alongside "Deacon" Dan Towler and

Chuck Heberling Charles Heberling (April 28, 1925 – December 9, 2019) was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) and Western Pennsylvania sports administrator. He was the referee for both the Hail Mary Game and The Drive. He was ...

, for a year before an injury forced him from the game. Following graduation in 1949, he was offered a job with a

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

company on the condition that he

anglicize Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English languag ...

his name to drop the "i." Bassi refused and enrolled in the

University of Pittsburgh School of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law) is the law school of the University of Pittsburgh, a public research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and became a charter member of the Association of American ...

Career

Legal career

After being admitted to the bar, he opened his own firm on the main street of Charleroi, building the firm to 14 attorneys. His firm, Bassi & Associates, later included his sons Brad and Keith. The firm has developed into the present-day Bassi, McCune & Vreeland, P.C. in

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. He also served as

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

of Washington County from 1981 through 1995. He spent 45 years as solicitor for the

Charleroi School District The Charleroi School District is a public school district covering the Boroughs of Charleroi, Dunlevy, North Charleroi, Speers, Stockdale, Twilight, and Fallowfield Township in Washington County, Pennsylvania. The district includes the ce ...

. He was also chair of the Washington County Redevelopment Authority from 1956 to 1970. All told, he practiced law for more than 50 years and was known as a "lawyer's lawyer."

Political service

In 1994, he was named Washington County Commissioner to fill the term of

Frank Mascara Frank Robert Mascara (January 19, 1930 – July 10, 2011) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician from Pennsylvania who served four terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003. Early l ...

, who was elected to

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, agreeing not to run for re-election. He served until 1995. A Democrat, he was succeeded by Republican Diana Irey, who he mentored after she won the election to succeed him.

Charleroi Federal Savings Bank

In 1958, he became a director of the Charleroi Federal Savings Bank, attaining the position of president of the bank in 1963. In 2000, he stepped aside to be chairman of the board of directors. During his tenure, the bank went from a single branch to a regional bank with 8 offices and $400 million in assets.

Personal life

He died of a heart attack on May 2, 2007, at Jefferson Regional Medical Center in

Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania Jefferson Hills is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. In the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 12,424. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Part of the West Je ...

. He was buried on May 7, 2007 at Monongahela Cemetery. He was a youth baseball coach for 18 years and a regional football referee for decades. He worked as a football referee for high school and college games, turning down an offer to be a referee for professional football. In 1973, he was named to the

Board of Trustees. He had a fascination with the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, visiting historical sites in

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

just days before his death.

Legacy and recognition

During the 1980s, he was a key figure in raising $1.5 million for the

Mon Valley The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in north ...

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

. In 1998, he received Washington & Jefferson College's Entrepreneur of the Year award. In 2005, he was named to the Washington & Jefferson College Athletic Hall of Fame and received the Robert M. Murphy Award. In 2006, he received the Washington County Chamber of Commerce Exceptional Community Commitment Award. Upon his passing, the

Regional Chamber of Commerce began the Melvin B. Bassi Memorial Golf Tournament in his honor, with the proceeds going to Leadership Washington County. During the 2007 Commencement for

, President

Tori Haring-Smith Tori Haring-Smith is an American academic and the former president of Washington & Jefferson College. Education Haring-Smith received a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College and doctoral and master's degrees from the University of Illinois ...

dedicated a large portion of her speech to the graduating class to Bassi's legacy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassi, Melvin 1926 births 2007 deaths People from Charleroi, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Washington County, Pennsylvania American bankers College football officials 20th-century American politicians Pennsylvania lawyers University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni Washington & Jefferson College trustees Washington & Jefferson Presidents baseball players Washington & Jefferson Presidents football players United States Navy personnel of World War II United States Navy sailors 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American academics Washington County commissioners (Pennsylvania)