Walt Mushlitz Gymnasium Dedicated

Five years after his death, Walt Mushlitz's memory lives on, among his family and in the community center he dedicated so much of his time to.

On Monday night, the made it official, renaming its gymnasium in Mushlitz's honor. His wife, children, grandchildren and other family members came to unveil the gym's new plaque.

"I wish we had 28,000 Walts in this city," Mayor Sal Panto said, praising Mushlitz for his years of dedication, not just at the Community Center -- in the days when it was still the Youth Center -- but also as a judge of elections, and head of the West Ward Citizen's Association.

The ceremony moved members of the Mushlitz family to tears.

"It's so hard to put into words," Ella Mae Mushlitz, Walt's wife, said after the ceremony. 

They were married 46 years; she still lives in the West Ward home they purchased in 1965.

They had children, who grew up to play sports in Easton. In 1981, Walt started a girls basketball league at St. Anthony's to give his daughters a chance to play.

Recalling those games Monday night, the Mushlitz children said the team didn't exactly play "basketball" as we might recognize it.

"It was just a bunch of girls running down the court," said Mushlitz's son, Walt Jr. "They didn't even dribble." Other times, they'd play "in gyms so low the ball would hit the ceiling."

But Walt Jr. says the story shows the type of guy his father was:

"Rather than sit on his hands, like most people would, like I probably would, he actually implemented something."

For Ella Mae Mushlitz, it was a bittersweet night.

"I feel so many emotions. I feel so blessed," she said. Around her neck, she has a chain, a piece of metal with her late husband's thumbprint. "I've never taken it off."