Brian Berry was working out at the Sewickley Valley YMCA when he was given the task to supervise a rowdy group of teens playing basketball.

“I heard a bunch of kids in this one gym and I took a peak in,” Berry said. “The youth and teen director at the time, Joan Cooper, called me over and gave me her whistle and told me could I watch her class for her because she had to make some phone calls.

“When she came back in, I had all the kids organized into games. I was taking the whistle off to give it back to her. She told me to keep the whistle. The job was mine. That’s the way it went on day one.”

The 1973 Quaker Valley graduate has helped coordinate programs and mentor youths at the health and wellness facility off Blackburn Road ever since that day more than 50 years ago.

The 71-year-old youth instructor recently celebrated reaching five decades of service. He’s been a camp counselor, art teacher, after-school leader at Economy Elementary, child care instructor and Kids Zone teacher.

“The good Lord has put this in my heart and I’m living it,” he said. “The Y is my house and everyone’s welcome.”

Berry grew up in Ambridge with six brothers and eight sisters, so sharing was a major thing in the Berry household.

“We always got the hand-me-down things, which was good to me,” Berry said. “We were blessed. When it was time to eat, you had better be there because there was nothing left. You really appreciated what you had.”

He credits his desire to help youths to his upbringing and lessons from his parents, Hattie and Alexander Berry.

Becoming a member

The family moved to Sewickley when he was in eighth grade. Berry said he first joined the YMCA in 1973 and volunteered for various projects including stuffing envelopes for mailers, mulching and other landscaping.

A runner for Quaker Valley’s track and field teams, he was excited about all the opportunities to play with friends and do other activities.

“Growing up, I didn’t have much,” Berry said. “What I got, I appreciated. People that gave things to me, I wanted to do good things back to. I just wanted to give back. My mom had instilled that in me, and I just wanted to give back to people.”

The layout at the time included two swimming pools, locker rooms, meeting rooms, tennis courts, a gymnasium and a weight room with medieval connotations.

“We called it the dungeon,” Berry said. “It was real dark down in there. The lighting was bad and (it was) kind of damp.”

The YMCA also had rooms for people to stay. Berry said pilots and other flight industry workers would rent them during the 1970s and early ’80s.

The rooms would later be remodeled and repurposed as the facility evolved with new fitness and wellness trends.

Berry began working at the Y in September 1974. He balanced a day job of cleaning and fixing up people’s properties during the day and youth programs in the evening.

“You name it, I do it,” Berry said about his work. Including landscaping and design, he would sometimes cook for his clients having taken culinary classes in San Francisco in the summer during the 1980s.

YMCA milestones

Berry has witnessed multiple changes to the facility, its programming and its leadership throughout his tenure.

The facility added a wellness center in 1990, a community activity center between 2008-09 and completely renovated its original building to house daycare with the project spanning 2013-14.

Its wellness center was also renovated with new windows and doors 2023-24.

“These were changes that they needed to make,” Berry said. “The Y is moving up beautifully. They are able to take care of the handicapped, people with Parkinson’s. They are really reaching out and I think it’s great. I’m just so happy to see all these things coming. We need it. Our town needs it. It’s really good.”

Leadership also changed during that time.

Fred Potts was executive director from 1969 to 1998. Membership grew from a little more than 3,000 to 12,000 at his retirement.

David Stevenson took over as executive director in May 1998 and served through November 2010. He left to lead the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA.

Former Trib Total Media chief operating officer Trish Hooper became Sewickley Valley’s next and current top administrator.

She said Berry has been an instrumental part of the Y’s success.

“Brian is such a special person because he truly cares about everyone he meets,” Hooper said. “He always has a huge smile and a kind word for everyone he talks to, and after a few minutes, you feel like you’ve known him forever. When he’s working with kids, he wants them to be their best at whatever activity they are doing, but he also wants them to be their best selves while they are doing it. He’s their biggest cheerleader.”

Berry said each executive director had their way of doing things, and all three were very supportive of how he handled the youth programs.

The only challenges he could recall were when families would bring guests who were not members. He would work with management for guest admissions, likely more than were generally allowed.

“I couldn’t turn anyone away,” Berry said.

Next generation

The biggest thing that brings Berry joy is seeing the smiling faces of the next generation.

He has reached the age where some of the youths he taught are now parents who bring their children to the YMCA.

“That’s worth more than any amount of money to me,” Berry said. “That’s what keeps me here.”

His boss is one of those parents.

Marc Smith, senior director for youth, teen and family, recalled how their relationship developed at the Y.

“Brian has been my mentor for 35 years,” Smith said. “He was my counselor when I was a kid at the Y. Every game I know is because of Brian.

“He has been such a positive force at our YMCA. When you first talk with Brian it will feel like you have known each other for years, and in that same conversation, he will have complimented you multiple times on how wonderful you are. Even though you just met him, he has gone out of his way to make you feel good.”

Berry remembered Smith as a very respectable young man.

“Marc had a halo,” Berry said. “He was just a good kid. Never had to talk to his kids about his behavior, and if I did it was all good. Real respectful, real polite.”

Berry is known to skip trips to remain at the Y when no other instructors are available and sends postcards from California when he travels in the summer.

He leads the facility’s run club and warrior fitness classes throughout the school year. He also leads the Parents Night Out program, which is a gym, swim and pizza party every other Friday.

Smith said Berry is also a fixture at other events and families come to the Y just because they know Berry will be there.

“There isn’t a thing I could ask Brian to be part of that he won’t say, ‘yes,’” Smith said. “He is that type of guy. Brian is the real deal. He is an inspiration to all of us who have had the chance to be his friend.”

In personal fitness, Berry has logged more than 5,000 miles on the indoor track — one mile is 14 laps. Some of the miles include his prayer walks, when “every step goes to somebody.”

“As long as the good Lord lets me work, I’m going to keep going,” Berry said. “I have another 50 years to put in.”

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