Worthington-West Franklin
High School

Worthington, PA

1933 - 1984

Tributes

William “Quanny” Renwick

Class of 1958

Unfortunately, I cannot claim to have been a friend of Bill Renwick or even say I  have any personal memories of him from my days at Worthington High School, but I truly was an admirer of him.  I was in eighth  grade when he graduated in 1958, but I have some distant memories of having heard that he had been  working out with weights with some other fellows from Buffalo Valley. You see, it was in the summer of 1958 that my friend Paul Poloskey and I discovered my brother Walter’s barbell set in my basement.  At that time, anyone who “worked out” would get my attention.

But that was the last of my memories of Bill until many years later when I crossed paths with his son Jeff.  A few fellows and I who had remained interested in weight training set up a gym in a small building on Race Street. The building later became known as “The Shack.”  Jeff joined our group and I am sure I asked him about his father and whether he still had any interest in lifting, but still I had never had any personal interaction with Bill. Bill would later join our group of lifters, but it was after I had moved to Butler and did not frequent the building often to workout, so other than knowing he was working out again we still had not had a face to face meeting in the arena we both enjoyed, the world of weights.

There were over the years some occasional brief meetings and I would inquire as to whether he was still lifting.  For whatever reason, Bill Renwick had become a larger than life person to me, maybe even some type of hero.  Although there was only  a five-year difference in our ages, it felt like I was meeting  someone who was from a different place in time.  I can still remember meeting him at a small restaurant in East Brady a few years ago.  Susan, my wife, and I drove up to East Brady to eat at a restaurant just off the bridge known for its fish dinners and sandwiches. Bill, Carolyn and another couple came in the restaurant and Bill and I exchanged hellos.  That is all there was to it, but that brief interaction remains etched in my mind.

No, there are no ball games, hunting trips or any other activity that I can tell you Bill and I enjoyed together, only some brief meetings over the 50 years since he graduated from Worthington.  The news about his health challenges were made known to me at the monthly breakfast the class of 1959 has the last Thursday at King’s restaurant. The news was shocking, not Bill “Quanny” Renwick, it couldn’t be true, but sadly was.  He was at that time in the Butler Hospital, so it was convenient for me to stop and see him.  There he was, an “iron man,”  a term used to describe men who worked out with weights, looking quite weak and vulnerable.  I stayed for a short time, but made an attempt to tell Carolyn and him how much his life made such an impression on me without ever having any meaningful conversation with him.

My wife often asks me about my attachment to Worthington and the days spent at Worthington High School.  Bill “Quanny” Renwick is one of the many reasons.  I could go on with many stories about the people who impacted me from those school days, but for now Bill is at the top of the list.  Whether it was merely passing his home on Cherry Street or hearing someone refer to “Quanny,” a name I  never felt I had a right to call him, since I was only an admirer not a close friend, something would wake up in me.

Maybe it was the strange nickname “Quanny,” but when I was in his presence for brief moments or heard his name I always felt this man was something special, which the love expressed to his family during his final days assured me that William  “Quanny” Renwick was indeed a special person, who came from a little area known as Worthington.

Bob Adams/October 31, 2009