Local journalist, son of ‘Buzz’ Storey, dies
Jerome “Jerry” Storey, a Uniontown journalist who followed in his father’s footsteps, died in his sleep Monday night. He was 54. “He seemed to have ink in his blood, like my Dad,’ said Jeanne Baugh of Uniontown, Storey’s twin sister.
One of six children born to Walter J. “Buzz’ and Polly Storey, Jerry Storey worked as a reporter for the Tribune-Review in charge of the paper’s Fay-West bureau.
He covered his community with a passion.
“He loved Uniontown. He was into history and everything that was going on. He was always out taking pictures,’ said Baugh. “The last time I saw him was at Cycles in the City on Saturday. …. If there was any event going on, he would be there.’
She added, “He loved his job. He put in some very long hours. He would leave early in the morning and come back late at night. He was very devoted.’
A 1970 graduate of St. John High School in Uniontown, Storey earned a degree in journalism from Gannon University in Erie. He took a job with Joy Manufacturing in Houston, Texas, but later returned to Uniontown where he began working with the Tribune-Review; perfecting the craft he learned growing up from his father, who worked as a reporter, editor and columnist for the Uniontown Herald-Standard for 61 years. Buzz Storey joined the news staff of the Daily News Standard (predecessor to the Herald-Standard) in 1940, writing and editing the Herald-Standard until his retirement from full-time work in 1987. He then continued as a columnist until January 2001 and also wrote two books of local history. Buzz Storey died in 2004 at age 82.
Like his father, Jerry Storey loved writing and reporting. Baugh also noted, “He was very interested in film writing and documentaries. He was working on some of his own.’
But people also remember Jerry Storey for his character.
Baugh said of her brother, “He was just a good person. He was very kind. He never married. He lived with my mother and did an amazing job of taking care of her. Every Saturday, he would take her to lunch and anywhere she needed. Until my dad’s death, he also took care of him.’
Jerry Storey died Monday night in his sleep. Baugh said he had a heart condition.
In July 1980, Storey, then 28 and “a public relations and advertising man,’ wrote a compelling, first-person article for the Herald-Standard about his own open-heart surgery two years earlier to replace a heart value.
He wrote, “In the two years since then, I’ve returned to a normal life. My stamina is such that I can play a spirited, if inexpert, game of tennis (the doctors said to jog, swim, ski, exercise but avoid contact sports like football – I wasn’t planning to try out for the Steelers anyhow).
“I also have a better perspective on my problems. Little things don’t seem worth as much worry … I can remember when my only desire was to be comfortable.
“Open-heart surgery? Not an ending, but a new beginning,’ he wrote.
Storey was born on October 31, 1951, in Uniontown, the son of the late Walter F. ‘Buzz” Storey and Polly Doorley Storey.
He is survived by his mother; brothers Walter (Jeff) Storey and his wife Barbara of Goshen, N.Y., Phillip Storey of Boston, Mass., Ted Storey and his wife Cheryl of Medina, Ohio; twin sister Jeanne Baugh of Uniontown, and sister Beth Evancheck and her husband Ronald of Carmel, Ind.; as well as many aunts and uncles and nephews and nieces.
The Andrew D. Ferguson Funeral Home Inc., 80 Morgantown St., Uniontown is handling funeral arrangements. Visitation is from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday. A Mass of Christian burial will take place at 10 a.m. Friday at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, Jefferson Street, Uniontown with the Rev. Father Michael Crockston officiating.
Interment will follow in LaFayette Memorial Park, Brier Hill.
Memorial donations may be made to the Uniontown Public Library, 24 Jefferson St., Uniontown, PA 15401.
Memorial emails may be sent to the family at memorials@adferguson.com.