As a kid, I lived in Wheeling, W.Va., but I wasn’t born there. My dad worked for Titanium Metals Corporation and, before Wheeling, we moved a couple of times around the country to places where Timet plants were located. I was 10 when we settled in Wheeling, so I think of myself as a West Virginian.
In my formative years, Wheeling was much more vibrant than it is today. It was like a “little Pittsburgh,” in way, along the Ohio River. The National Road went right through town, which helped to make it a hub of industry. Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, for example, was in full swing when I was growing up.
My father was a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. My mother was a former teacher and a very broad-thinking, educated person. I’m in the middle of three sisters, with one brother, who was the oldest. Both of our parents have passed and, sadly, we lost our brother to blood cancer when he was just 45. So, three sisters remain—and a sister-in-law; four women, and our offspring. They are amazing people, each one.
– Jeff Sewald, Pittsburgh Quarterly
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