Beyond the Byline: ‘Remembering an old friend’

He called us “a motley bunch of crew” and he once told the members of our softball team that “we are stink.”

“He” is Harry “The Hawk” Yurch, our recently departed friend. Hawk died Tuesday at the age of 73.

His death hit a lot of us hard. Guys like Barry Kurkowski, Bob Barney, Dan Walters, Ron Hillard and me.

One friend was so moved, he sent me his thoughts about Hawk that have to be shared to capture the essence of who Hawk was and why we will miss him so much.

John “Hude” Hudak sent me his thoughts about Hawk and, honestly, they moved me to tears. Hawk had been in a nursing home for the last few years and he lost his fight this week.

Here is what the “Hude” said about our friend, “The Hawk”:

“Remembering an Old Friend”

by John “Hude” Hudak

“Harry “Hawk” Yurch died a few days ago. He was my friend. He was my best friend in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. I’m not sure how we met.

“We lived near each other in Plymouth. He was equipment manager for the Plymouth High School basketball team. I succeeded him as equipment manager for the Plymouth Area and Wyoming Valley West High School basketball teams.

“We bonded over sports. Hawk loved sports. Both participant and spectator. He had trouble with his feet, but would gamely play a full-court, pick-up basketball game at the Huber Stadium or a Wiffleball game at Chervy’s driveway on Turner Street.

“He loved the Phillies, Eagles, and later the Nittany Lions of Penn State. He never drove and relied on friends to drive him to ball games. I remember trips together to Veterans Stadium for Eagles games with J.C. Born behind the wheel of his big coupe, or road trips to watch the Wilkes-Barre Barons professional basketball team with Billy “WAJ” Jones behind the wheel of his Oldsmobile convertible. WAJ and Hawk were cousins.

“Hawk worked his entire life at Atwater Throwing Co. in Plymouth — walking to work everyday, unless he could hitch a ride with someone. My mom, Helen Dmuchoski, and uncle, Ed Vnuk, also worked there. Atwater is long gone, but it was a long-time employer in Plymouth.

“Hawk managed the slow pitch softball team, “Lower End Pizza,” which I played for. Games were at the Ash Diamond across the railroad tracks from Shawnee Lumber. And he was always good with statistics.

“When I got married, he was my best man. But marriage and a move to California for better economic opportunities followed. We slowly drifted apart as our lives moved in different directions. Occasionally, we would meet when I visited Plymouth over the holidays. He came to visit one year when Penn State was playing in the Rose Bowl. But the connections grew fewer over the years.

“Sometimes I would get a Christmas card from him, but we lost track of each other.

“A few months ago another good old friend, Billy O’Boyle, called me to let me know Hawk was in bad shape. He was in a nursing home recovering from a fall. I flew in from Charlotte, where I was living, to visit for few days. He was bedridden with a broken hip and his hands were swollen with arthritis. We talked about the old days. And he wanted me to find some sports to watch on the small old TV in his room. The remote didn’t work.

“That was the last we spoke.

“To paraphrase Richard Dreyfus from the movie, Stand By Me, I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was growing up.

“I wish Hawk a big screen TV with all the sports channels as he sits in a lounger in heaven.”

Signed, “The Hude,” John Hudak.

Epilogue

The Irish poet William Butler Yeats wrote this:

“Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends.”

That quote perfectly describes the group of guys mentioned above and many more who knew The Hawk. We grew up at a time when the world was changing in several dramatic ways.

Hawk was the one who always kept us on the straight and narrow. Hence, calling us “a motley bunch of crew” and telling us that “we are stink.”

Hawk managed our Lower End Softball Team to a championship in the Ash Diamond League, I’ve attached a photo of that team — giving clear evidence of just how motley we were.

We will always remember “The Hawk” and we will forever miss him.