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Melvin Bassi ’49 entered the 2005 W&J Athletic Hall of Fame class as the 2005 Robert M. Murphy Awardwinner. Bassi has been successful on and off the playing fields throughout his storied career. His athletic days began at Charleroi High School where he played football, basketball and baseball.
After serving two years for the U.S. Navy in World War II in the South Pacific Theater, Bassi began his career as a President on the football team, playing alongside of W&J Hall of Fame members “Deacon” Dan Towler and Walter Cooper before an injury cut his career short. A member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, Bassi was also an accomplished baseball player at the College for four years. Bassi, who earned a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1952, went on to coach youth baseball for 18 years and then spent another 16 years working as a regional sports official.
He has practiced law for over 50 years as the senior partner in the law firms of Bassi, McCune and Vreeland in Charleroi and Washington. In addition, he has been the chairman of Charleroi Federal Savings for more than 40 years. He was named to the Charleroi Federal Savings’ Board of Directors in 1958. Bassi was first named to the Washington & Jefferson College Board of Trustees in 1973. In 1998, Bassi was honored as Washington & Jefferson College’s Entrepreneur of the Year. The achievement reflected the spirit, vision and abilities being nurtured in the College’s entrepreneurial studies program.
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