A longtime fixture in Robinson Township girls softball circles has passed, but those who had the good fortune to collaborate with him and share his passion for the sport are working to make sure his name lives on.
An effort is underway to name one of the softball fields in Burkett Park in honor of Steve Pilarski, who died last week at the age of 60 after battling Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare but aggressive form of skin cancer.
An online petition that was posted on Father’s Day netted nearly 800 signatures in support of naming the field after Pilarski, who was associated with Robinson Township Girls Softball League for more than 30 years as a board member and officer, coach and umpire.
Now it will be up to township officials to decide whether to follow through on that effort. Jen Yuvan, director of Parks and Recreation for the township, could not be reached to detail whether a specific process is used to name township facilities. John Cambest, the township solicitor, said it likely would take a resolution on the part of the Board of Commissioners to make it happen.
Rob Pitassi, current president of the local girls softball league, said the group is “100% supportive” of naming a field after Pilarski.
“He’s been around for a very long time and contributed a lot to the league and the community,” Pitassi said.
The effort to name the field in Pilarski’s honor gained momentum when two longtime friends of Pilarski – Ken Kutchman and Frank Deutsch – were reminiscing about times they spent with him and thought it would be a fitting honor.
Kutchman’s wife, Judy, set out to collect signatures in support of the idea and that resulted in the online petition. It was posted just six days before Pilarski died on June 25.
The petition noted that the naming – or renaming – of a field would not only serve as a symbol of gratitude for Pilarski’s dedication “but also ensures that his impact is sewn into the fabric of our community for generations to come.”
Judy Kutchman said the petition was an opportunity to create awareness of what was going on with Pilarski and at the same time obtain enough signatures to convince township officials the cause was a worthy one.
“And also to give the family a boost,” Judy Kutchman added.
That came in the form of the things people wrote about Pilarski, the high esteem in which he was held and the speed at which the number of signatures mounted. A total of 792 people signed in less than 12 hours. People also began donating money to the cause, but that was never the intention, so the petition was taken down.
Ken and Judy Kutchman got to know Pilarski when their daughters began playing softball as young girls. Eventually, Ken and Steve served on the RTGSL board, and that spawned a friendship that involved both of their spouses and several other couples. The group vacationed together in such places as Chicago, Arizona, New Orleans and Colorado as well as the Outer Banks.
“We became super close,” Judy Kutchman said. “It became like family.”
Ken Kutchman said Pilarski’s outgoing nature was such that “you always knew when he was around. He was just friendly to everyone.”
But he wasn’t averse to a healthy discussion involving opposing viewpoints. “You could always have a good argument with him,” Judy Kutchman said. “But you’d love him even more in the end.”
Pilarski had plenty of admirers in the local softball scene, including Jason Minear, who said the fact that Pilarski remained relevant in the local softball community long after his daughters grew into adulthood speaks volumes.
“He was a born leader – he knew how to get things done,” Minear said of Pilarski. “And he did it in a way that it was always about the kids. That’s what it would always go back to. He was just a really good guy.”
Pilarski’s influence spread well beyond the softball community. A graduate of Langley High School and Point Park University, Pilarski built a 40-year career working for Allegheny County, starting as a keypunch operator and advancing to deputy county manager – a position he held for more than a decade before retiring in the fall of 2025.
Rich Fitzgerald, the former county executive, said when he assumed office in 2012 he was encouraged to add Pilarski to his administrative staff as senior deputy county manager to be a fixer of sorts.
“Steve was the guy we would send into a department when they were having problems – and he fixed them,” Fitzgerald said. “Whatever successes my administration had during those years, Steve was the guy behind the scenes making things happen. Whether it was improvements in the parks department or public works department, or property assessments or elections, that was Steve’s role.”
Pilarski also negotiated contracts with dozens of bargaining units over the years.
“I’ve heard from so many union officials since Steve’s passing, praising him up and down and saying what a great guy he was to work with,” Fitzgerald said. “And these were folks on the opposite side of the negotiating table.”
Fitzgerald, currently executive director of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, characterized Pilarski as a “straight shooter. He told it like it was. But not in a mean or acerbic way. He was a friendly person.”
One of the ways Pilarski would show his friendly side was by donning a Santa Claus costume for the annual Light Up Night event at the county courthouse. “We’d have a big reception, families would bring their kids down, and Steve was Santa Claus,” Fitzgerald said. “That gives you an idea of the type of person he was.
“He was the ultimate public servant.”
Fitzgerald said the idea of naming a softball field after Pilarski is “so appropriate” given the time and energy he devoted to that.
“For everything this guy has done, he absolutely deserves the recognition,” Fitzgerald said.
Current county Executive Sara Innamorato announced Tuesday that the county courthouse will be lit blue – Pilarski’s favorite color — in the evenings through July 4 as a symbol of gratitude for his service to the county.
A funeral Mass for Pilarski was held Wednesday at Holy Trinity Church in Robinson. According to his obituary, donations can be made to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center at fredhutch.org or the AHN Cancer Institute at AHN.org, and those donations should be directed to Merkel cell carcinoma.
Pilarski is survived by his wife of 39 years, Chris (Cavalovitch) Pilarski, daughters Courtney (Jimmy) Thompson, Caitlin (Jon) Nalevenko and Kara (Daniel O’Shea) Pilarski along with grandchildren Jade Christine Thompson and Luca Stephen Nalevanko as well as his mother, Joan Pilarski, his siblings and numerous other family members.
According to Pilarski’s obituary, he was thrilled when his two grandchildren were born a year ago last month “and loved every minute he spent in ‘Pappy Day Care’ watching them grow over the year.”
“It’s sad that those 1-year-olds will never get to know their grandfather,” Fitzgerald said. “But what they should know is what a public servant he was and the great things he did to improve lives in Allegheny County.”
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