Jun 11, 2018 By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 4 min read

Though raised in Brookline, Ralph Jelic bled blue and gold, the colors of Mt. Lebanon and the University of Pittsburgh.

Since 1970, Jelic lived and raised a family in Mt. Lebanon until his death on May 28. He was 84 years old.

Before being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jelic played football for the University of Pittsburgh. A running back and a linebacker, he played in the 1955 Sugar Bowl and the 1956 Gator Bowl for the Panthers. He later served as coach for the Panthers.

In 2010, he was honored by his alma mater as a Varsity Letter-Winner of Distinction at its 50th awards dinner. The honor recognizes former Pitt athletes who distinguished themselves in sports and had successful business careers.

“As a student, athlete, coach and later as a successful business professional, Ralph embodied the best of Pitt,” said Pitt Executive Associate Athletic Director EJ Borghetti on behalf of the university. “He was a vital part of two celebrated bowl teams in the 1950s and then went on to give back to the game as a teacher and coach. The same drive and skills that made him an accomplished athlete also made him successful in the business world. Ralph achieved success in so many different realms.”

After Jelic earned his bachelor’s degree in education, he embarked on a career as a teacher and a coach in Western Pennsylvania. Before returning to Pitt to become the defensive coordinator on Carl DePasqua’s staff in 1971, Jelic coached at Lehigh, Harvard and Boston University, where he obtained a master’s degree in education.

After his stint at Pitt, Jelic moved on to work as an NFL talent scout for the Oakland Raiders, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs.

“Ralph was a good football coach,” said renowned Pittsburgh sports author Jim O’Brien. “I think he’d have been happy to have been a coach all his life.”

In 1973, however, he embarked on a business career. He spent 15 years in marketing and sales at Dravo Corporation. Eventually, he formed his own firm, R.A. Jelic Company, which specialized in sales of geotextile materials.

All the while, he and his wife, Cynthia, raised their family in Mt. Lebanon. Naturally, since Cynthia also played basketball at Pitt, earning the distinction as Pitt’s Woman Athlete of the Year in 1959, they produced athletic offspring.

Jeff wrestled. Chris played football and baseball. Jane earned two letters in volleyball. All graduated from Mt. Lebanon.

A three-time captain and MVP, Jeff also earned All-America honors at Pitt and was an Eastern Wrestling League Hall of Fame inductee in 1990. He received both his undergraduate degree and Doctor of Dental Medicine at Pitt. Today, Jeff is a facial surgeon practicing in North Carolina.

Chris quarterbacked Lebo to WPIAL championship titles and Pitt to two bowl appearances. On the diamond, he garnered MVP, all-Big East and NCAA all-district acclaim before being selected in the second round of the Major League Baseball’s amateur draft by the Kansas City Royals.

Though Jane attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania, she married a Pitt man, Mike Minnick, who teaches in the Mt. Lebanon School District.

According to O’Brien, Jelic fell in love with Mt. Lebanon at an early age because when he was playing Pee Wee football in Brookline, he noticed how everything there seemed “better, nicer and newer.” He vowed then that he would somehow raise his family there because he wanted “his kids to go to school” and “to live in” Mt. Lebanon.

Mt. Lebanon takes pride, too, in Jelic. The 1992 inductee into the western chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and his family are recognized on the Wall of Fame at Atria’s Restaurant and Tavern. Poignant is the photograph of the 1948 Mt. Lebanon Wildcats.

O’Brien related how, after sharing a meatloaf special lunch at the Mt. Lebanon eatery some eight years ago, Jelic proudly pointed to the photograph and said ‘that’s little ol’ me.”

Yes, O’Brien related, in youth and in advanced age, Jelic loved sports, life, Mt. Lebanon and Pitt, that much.

“Ralph Jelic enjoyed sports; it’s that simple,” O’Brien concluded. “He enjoyed the games, talking about the games and drew much satisfaction from the success of his family, their own sports experiences, and the friends he made along the way.”

Editor’s note: While The Frank F. DeBor Funeral Home & Cremation Services, Inc. of Brookline handled the funeral arrangements, a Celebration of Ralph Jelic’s Life with visitation with his family will take place at a later date.