Richard J. "Dick" Esposito

1952 - 2025

Richard J. "Dick" Esposito, 72, of Brockway, PA, died on Monday, January 6, 2025, at Penn Highlands DuBois.

Born on July 24, 1952, in DuBois, PA, he was the son of the late Francis "Cheech" Esposito and the late Martha M. Hoskavich Esposito.

He was Catholic by faith. Dick was previously married to Sharon McKay Esposito and she survives and lives at Treasure Lake.

He was a 1970 graduate of Central Catholic High School in DuBois (now DuBois Central Catholic), and a 1974 graduate of St. Bonaventure University, where he obtained a bachelor's degree in education. After graduating, Dick took a job at Central Catholic as a teacher, and began helping his parents run the family business Esposito Beveridge. He eventually took over the business and ran it until he then sold it. After the sell, he went back into education working as a Wraparound finally retiring in 2014.

Dick was currently serving as the Brockway girls basketball coach. The following is taken from an article written by Chris Rossetti published January 6, 2025: Esposito had two stints as the Lady Rovers' head coach coaching them from 1996 to 2003 and again from 2014 through this season. He coached Brockway to the school's lone girls' basketball title winning the 2A championship in 2022. Getting his high school coaching start in the late 1970s, Esposito helped form the softball program at his alma mater, DuBois Central Christian (now Catholic) and was the first head coach of the Lady Cardinals. In 1980, he became the boys' head coach at DCC and was the head man from 1980-86 leading the Cardinals to three Moshannon Valley League titles. Following the 1986 season, Esposito was hired as the men's coach at Penn-State DuBois and led the program through 1991. He was also the athletic director for the school from 1988-90 and was the girls' golf coach from 1989-91. Esposito returned to high school coaching in 1998 as the head coach of the Brockway girls and led the Rovers through the 2003 season before becoming the head coach again in 2014 after spending the 2011-13 seasons as the junior varsity coach and junior high coach for the Lady Rovers. In his two combined stints with Brockway, Esposito won over 140 games. His final game on the bench was Dec. 16 against Cameron County before a brief illness sidelined him. In 2022, the Lady Rovers won that elusive first District title in their 50th year as a program beating Clarion-Limestone, 46-37, in the D9 title game. That was a year after Brockway fell to Keystone in the D9 title game. For his team's accomplishments, Esposito was named the YDL Sports Network/D9and10Sports.com Coach of the Year in 2022. Esposito coached five of the six 1,000-point girls' scorers in Brockway history including Mary Barrow (1,678 points, graduated 2001), Miranda Rhed (1,259 points, graduated 2002), Danielle Wood (1,170 points, graduated in 2022), Leah Lindemuth (1,090 points, graduated in 2018), and Selena Buttery (1,040 points, graduated 2022). Buttery also grabbed 1,052 rebounds. His coaching start came in the youth levels coaching both Little League baseball and basketball in Brockway while in high school at DCC, including a basketball team called Dick's Dunkers. He was a member of the Brockway Sportsmen's Club, the Knights of Columbus, the Sons of Italy Club in Brockway and many many beer and brewing associations. He enjoyed cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Pirates, but was an avid over- the-top Penn State Nittany Lions football fan. Dick also enjoyed golfing and spending hours cutting the grass.

He is also survived by a daughter, Sarah Snyder and her fiancé David Derbish of Pittsburgh, PA; a son, Nicholas Esposito of Treasure Lake; a sister, Karen Ann Esposito of Chantilly, VA; brothers, Dr. Francis "Mike" (Peggy) Esposito of Raleigh, NC; Thomas (Vicky) Esposito and Gregory (Maureen) Esposito both of Mechanicsburg, PA.

Visitation will be on Thursday, January 9 from 3-7 p.m. at the Shugarts Funeral Home Inc. in Brockway. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, January 10 at 11 a.m. at St. Tobias Church, 1135 Hewitt Street, Brockway, PA 15824. Burial will follow in St. Tobias Cemetery.

Although flowers are appreciated, memorial donations to the American Cancer Society at donate.cancer.org or to the Brockway Basketball Program, c/o Stephanie Benson, 40 North Street, Brockway, PA 15824 are preferred. Online condolences may be left at csfhinc.com.