Retired Norwin teacher loved traveling, going to Olympics
Share this post:
Retired Norwin High School teacher Leslie “Les” M. Harvath had a lifelong love for the game of baseball, from playing on a Little League championship team to starring for the Norwin Knights and Duquesne Dukes that led to a tryout with the Pittsburgh Pirates and then imparting his knowledge of the game by coaching his alma mater for more than 20 years.
He loved to play baseball and lived just “400 feet from home plate” at his neighborhood ballfield, said his son, Schuyler Harvath of Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Childhood friend Carl Huszar of North Huntingdon, who later taught with Mr. Harvath at Norwin, recalled how they were teammates on a Police Athletic League team that won a championship in 1959 in Westmoreland City. Mr. Harvath’s father, Edward Harvath, coached the team, Huszar said.
A 1965 graduate of Norwin High School, Mr. Harvath played baseball for the Norwin Knights. He was good enough to be a three-year starter at Duquesne University, where he played outfield. Mr. Harvath was fast enough that he set single-season and career records for stolen bases, which have since been broken. One season, he stole 28 bases without ever being thrown out, Schuyler Harvath said.
His talents did not go unnoticed by the Pittsburgh Pirates: He earned a tryout for an outfielder’s position with the Bucs at old Forbes Field in Oakland, Huszar said.
Harvath, 73, of Hempfield died Wednesday, March 31, 2021, at his home, after a three-year battle with leukemia.
He was the son of the late Edward J. and Stella Matovich Harvath of Westmoreland City.
While he intended to pursue a degree in business when he went to Duquesne, his son said he quickly decided that was not for him and teaching would be his career. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Duquesne University in 1969 and a master’s degree in education from Duquesne in 1973.
After graduating from Duquesne, Mr. Harvath spent 35 years teaching traditional and gifted world cultures classes at Norwin High School.
He served for eight seasons as an assistant baseball coach to Tom Shirley and spent 20 seasons as the Knights’ head coach.
Schuyler recalled a story his father told when Norwin won a WPIAL championship. The team vowed to throw their coach into the high school swimming pool, even though he could not swim. They carried out that part of the post-championship celebration, and Mr. Harvath found himself floundering in the pool, needing some players to jump in and rescue him.
Schuyler said his father, who had been a freelance writer for the Tribune-Review, envisioned the headline on the story: “Norwin wins WPIAL, buries coach.”
Longtime friend Randy Miller, a former Tribune-Review sports writer who knew Mr. Harvath when he was writing for the newspaper, said “he became the big brother I never had,” despite an age difference of about 17 years.
“He was a great man. He was a ball of energy,” said Miller, who covers the New York Yankees for NJ.com.
In another incident, Schuyler said his father was trying to break up a brawl between his team and Latrobe when he broke his finger. He screamed at his players to get back to the bench because he had been injured.
Having never forgotten his world history background, he turned his love of history into a passion, traveling to the Olympic Games in Montreal in 1976, Moscow in 1980, Sarajevo in 1984, Seoul in 1988, Albertville in 1990, Beijing in 2008 and Pyeongchang in 2018.
“We have tons of pins and memorabilia all over the house,” said his son.
He went to seven Olympic games, including the one at Albertville, France, in 1990, where he took his new bride, Jane Mizikar, whom he had met in 1989 at a golf tournament.
“I’ve never seen a couple getting along as well as they did,” Miller said.
Huszar said Mr. Harvath was devoted to his family.
“Nobody was more positive than Les was, facing an illness. He did everything he could to battle this,” Huszar said.
He is survived by his wife, Jane Mizikar; and his son, Schuyler Harvath, and his wife, Brianna.
Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Ott Funeral Home Inc., 805 Pennsylvania Ave., Irwin. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, North Main Street, Greensburg. Interment will follow in St. Vincent Cemetery, Unity.
Memorials may be sent to the Hillman Cancer Center of Pittsburgh UPMC Cancer Pavilion, Suite 1B, 5150 Centre Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15232; the Norwin Historical Society, 304 Main St., Irwin, PA 15642; or Wreaths Across America, P.O. Box 249, Columbia Falls, ME 04623.