The

Authorized

Rege Cordic,

Cordic & Co.

and Olde Frothingslosh
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I can never say 'Rege Cordic' and not smile!

    For most of my life I have been introduced as Rege Cordic's sister. Often people have asked if I minded that introduction, and I must honestly say that time Rege was becoming well known, I was pretty certain of my own identity, and I was proud to be related to someone who brought such good quality fun to Pittsburghhumor that included us all. It was exciting to watch him develop and hone his talents, and so encouraging to witness Pittsburgh accept and reciprocate the love he demonstrated for the city and its people.

    Seventy-three years ago tomorrow, Rege was born to our Irish-born mother, Hannah Brosnahn Cordic and her husband Pete, at the home on Second Avenue in Hazelwood that they shared with my grandparents, aunts and uncles. At the bottom of the terraced front lawn were the B&O tracks. It could be said that from birth onward, Rege was never more than a stroll from one of the great loves of his life, railroading. When the family moved to Squirrel Hill, model railroading was a hobby he took up in earnest. Today his huge hand assembled HO scale railroad still occupies what was once a double garage at his Los Angeles home.

    He was an entrepreneur from an early ageone of those lucky people who know pretty much what they want as their life's work. For Rege it would be work in either newspapers or radio Beginning in grade school he wrote to the editor of the Pittsburgh Press for advice, and hung around WWSW and KDKA radio stations watching how Davey Tyson and Paul Shannon worked. When the opportunity came for a radio job he was ready. After Central Catholic High School and two years in the Navy, Rege and post-war Pittsburgh were ready for one another.

    As "one of the family" Rege could poke fun at our foibles, as no outsider would dare. His feel for Pittsburgh humor was inbred. We grew up surrounded by Pittsburgh characters.

    My grandfather, Pete Cordic Sr., was a carpenter for H. J. Heinz and later for the city of Pittsburgh. Father John Kelly's dad was a blacksmith for the city, and they, with a group of fellow Democrat city employees, and a sizeable number of B&O men, my dad included, formed a Democratic club called, for some unknown reason, "The Martinique Club." It met regularly in Cordic's basement, and Pittsburgh jokes and stories flowed with the beer.

    One of the earliest jokes Rege and I recalled being told to us by our dad was the story of two Pittsburgh policemen in the old days who, upon finding a dead horse downtown on Duquesne Way, dragged the horse to First Avenue because they weren't sure how to spell Duquesne. Does this sound like a Cordic situation, or what? Growing up on Pittsburgh humor, Rege was a natural to be at the heart of post-war Pittsburgh Renaissance humor. He truly had, along with his talented staff, a finger on the pulse of the city at this exciting time. I'm sure you all have your favorite character and favorite routine, and can remember at what place you were in your morning routine when you heard it.

    A dear friend said to me, when she heard that Rege had passed away," My heart is breaking, so why am I smiling? I can never say 'Rege Cordic' and not smile!" What a wonderful legacy. What love Pittsburghers have for him, and what love he had for Pittsburghers.

    I truly reel that the God who told us to have faith, have hope, have love, and that the greatest of these is love, will not allow us to experience love like this, then eliminate it. I know that we'll again experience Rege's love for us in the next life. Maybe he'll tell us routines about being the new guy in heaven, or about trying to tailor his material to those folks from the dark ages. It'll be fun and interesting and no breaks for commercials.

    So----when you hear a train whistle, or hear his theme "Up a Lazy River," or find yourself laughing at one of life's ridiculous situations, think of Rege, say a prayer for him, and plan what you '11 say when you meet him, as the Irish say, "beyond the beyond."

 

Remarks by Martha Shanley at the memorial Mass for Rege Cordic on May 14, 1999 at St. Mary of the Point Church, Pittsburgh, PA.