Hope
Love
While she doesn’t reside within city limits, McKeesport will
always feel, in part, like home for Mary Pat Soltis . Her
involvement in McKeesport’s many charities has left a lasting
impact on Soltis’ life, and her kindness has greatly impacted
the heart of the McKeesport community.
Today, she serves on the Mon Yough Chamber Foundation
and the UPMC McKeesport-East joint board of directors.
But her work in the community has extended far and wide
to organizations including Penn State McKeesport, the
YMCA, Auberle, Allegheny County Airport Authority, and the
Allegheny County Library Association.
In the mid-1990s, Soltis got her first taste of politics when
she was asked by then-Allegheny County Commissioner Pete
Flaherty to serve on the up-and-coming Allegheny Regional
Asset District Board, which was to distribute a 1 percent sales
tax allotment to cultural assets across the county.
“I firmly believe President Kennedy’s statement that
without art in our society, we are lacking the true heart and
value of our generation,” Soltis said. “The symphony, the
opera, the ba llet – these are all assets that enrich us.”
When Soltis reviewed the assets, she noticed there
was nothing from McKeesport in the mix. She wanted
Renziehausen Park – a recreational hub for communities
throughout the Mon Valley – to get the same attention as
official Allegheny County parks.
“I wasn’t from McKeesport, but I knew the value of it,”
she said. “What stood out about Renzie Park was how it
was utilized by everyone – the garden club, children at the
playground, people out walking to get their exercise. My
sons-in-law had fished in the pond as children. Their families
went there for picnics and to watch fireworks.”
Soltis shared her own concern as well as that of then-
Mayor Joe Bendel when she informed the board she couldn’t
move forward on a budget that didn’t give something to
McKeesport. Because of her persistence and commitment to
McKeesport, Renziehausen Park remains a contractual asset
for the Allegheny Regional Asset District.
For more information, contact the mayor’s office at 412.675.5020, ext. 605.
Nominations can be mailed to the mayor’s assistant Jennifer Vertullo, 500 Fifth
Avenue, McKeesport, PA 15132, or emailed to [email protected]. The
deadline for the next round of nominations is May 4, 2018.
MCKEESPORT AREA
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SPRING 2018
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