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Seats find an unusual resting place
Sunday, January 07, 2001 By Bill Heltzel, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Mt. Lebanon Cemetery is the final resting place of two seats from Three Rivers Stadium.
The blue, plastic stadium seats mark the grave of Paul "Buddy" Wellener, a diehard Steelers and Pirates fan who died March 16.
His widow, Mary Ann, and son, Paul, purchased them for $700 at the auction yesterday at Mellon Arena.
"He definitely would have wanted us to have some," Mrs. Wellener said. "Before he died, he bought six seats in the new stadium."
"Yeah, he really enjoyed Three Rivers," his son said. "He always made a big thing about the Pirates and Steelers and traditions."
The Welleners had season tickets to Steelers games for 42 years. At Three Rivers they had six seats, numbered 3 through 8, and yesterday they bought three pairs with the same numbers. They paid $2,100.
Paul, 38, will place one pair in his basement shrine to the Steelers at his home in Medina, Ohio. Another pair will go to his brother, Tim, 36, of Phoenixville, Chester County, for his deck.
Seat numbers 7 and 8 were temporarily installed at the cemetery, where as yet there is not a traditional grave marker. The Welleners hope to have the seats permanently installed on a granite or concrete base, with an inscription.
"Buddy" Wellener was active in youth athletics. He was once a president of the Parents Athletic Council in Mt. Lebanon, and for 25 years he coached youth teams and officiated contests in baseball, softball and basketball.
He was a Mt. Lebanon school director from 1976 to 1981. He was an executive at the Superior Valve Division of Amcast Industrial Corp., and he sold real estate with his wife.
And he was passionate about the Steelers and Pirates.
"We thought he would enjoy having two seats," Mrs. Wellener said.
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