Samuel J. Chiodo, 73 (May 28, 1931-May 23, 2005) passed away. He is survived by his wife, Peggy, and his children Brian, June, Sandra, Samuel and Gail. He will be missed by everyone.

Sam started to work at his cousin’s bar bearing the family’s name a short while before I started going there in the early 80’s. I will never forget the first time I walked in on a Friday night at 8:00 pm.

Chiodo’s Tavern of Homestead had one of the longest bars in Pittsburgh and not a customer in site; just Sam and Marcia, the cook. They had about five or six im- ports on display, all of which were pur- veyed at Sam’s insistence to attract new customers. It worked. This was the time the steel mills were closing and it looked like the bar would soon follow.

Sam lost his job in his birthplace, the Rocks (that’s McKees Rocks for you out-of- towners) and Joe put him on as bar- tender. Within a very short time Sam had the coolers stocked with over a hun- dred brands on imports and people were lined up three deep at the bar. Sam had placed Chiodo’s on the world beer map. It soon became a destination for people coming to Pittsburgh. How could one man do this?

Beer distributors were concerned about bringing in new beers because they thought they would never sell. Sam pes- tered them relentlessly and in the end he won because the distributors knew that he would move the beer. Lacking an MBA, Sam was able to bring beer to Pitts- burgh by subscribing to a basic business principal; take care of your customers.

Although he did not drink beer much, he studied and learned all that he could about the beer he sold. He knew about the different styles and was able to offer a suggestion based on a customer’s desire.

He worked very hard to serve his custom- ers but at the end of the day none of that was important to him. His family was im- portant to him, as well as his friends. If Sam had a fault, it would be that he was too kind. He would do anything for any- one because he saw a friend in each of us. I don’t think some of us realize this but Sam was always thinking about our club, TRASH. He would do all he could for us and the bar was always open for us (even when it should not have been).

Even in retirement he would read the club newsletter and reminisce. His son Brian mentioned us at the funeral saying that his father thought the world of us. I can- not underscore the importance of Brian’s remarks ("he thought the world of you guys") enough and what it means to me or what it should mean to all of us. We meant a lot to Sam and for him to have us in his thoughts should mean a lot to us.

Chiodo’s Tavern closed in March but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that Pittsburgh lost a good man this year. We all lost a good friend. Sam was a common man with common sense. Ma- terial things were not important to him, other than his morning paper. He shunned the lime-light but put every- body else first. He said that his greatest achievement was his five children and hoped people thought he was a good man. You may rest in peace, Sam; you were a good man who did a good job.