Honored alums return to Plum High School to inspire today's students

The five graduates to join the ranks of Plum School District’s distinguished alumni this year include average students who became remarkable people.

“I was a solid ‘C’ student when I went to high school,” said Jeffrey Schmeck, 66, a 1976 Plum graduate who has lived in San Antonio for 38 years. Now retired, he started his own business dealing in loading dock handling equipment.

Eddie Edwards Jr., 50, went on to become an attorney and sports agent after graduating in 1991 and has represented athletes including Plum’s Pat McAfee. He described himself as “a very mediocre student” who didn’t pay enough attention to academics.

He was nominated by two classmates, Michelle Gallagher and Melissa Nonnenberg, members of the Plum High School Distinguished Alumni Committee.

“It’s truly an honor to have your peers recognize you for some of the things you’ve accomplished,” Edwards said. “I’m proud of where I grew up. I’m a Plum kid. I never forget that. My values and the core of who I am came from Plum Borough.”

They and this year’s other inductees — 1975 graduate Charles R. “Randy” Morgan, 1990 graduate Shea Hoffmann Murtaugh and 2003 graduate Anna F. Zvirman-Nesbit — spoke with students at Plum High School on Friday morning after attending the 14th annual Plum Distinguished Alumni banquet Thursday night at Oakmont Country Club.

“It’s great when people come back and students can see the successes of people just like them,” assistant high school Principal Stephen Sereda said.

Established in 2006 by retired Plum teacher Bob Ford, the committee recognizes district alumni who have distinguished themselves in various fields of excellence or who have made major contributions to society, said Margie Evans, committee president.

Morgan is retired from the Navy, in which he graduated from SEAL training, was a commanding officer of a SEAL team and attained the rank of captain. Murtaugh went into advertising and founded a marketing agency. Zvirman-Nesbit became a licensed funeral director and shareholder of Soxman Funeral Homes.

“We try to select the best people every year,” Evans said. “It’s always a diverse group. That’s not by design, it just seems to happen.”

Grounded in their Plum heritage, Gallagher said, they’d be very relatable to today’s students.

“People make their own path and they become successful because they’re driven to do that,” she said. “Anyone can be successful.”

Speaking to juniors and seniors in teacher Jennifer Bell’s sociology class, Edwards said he wasn’t the best student as he grew up in Plum’s Holiday Park neighborhood. He now has a home in Hampton and works in Los Angeles.

“There’s no set path you should be on. You should do you. Every path to success is different,” he told the class, adding they should be proud of being from Plum.

“Plum’s just a special place. You don’t realize it when you’re here,” he said. “I appreciate the heck out of where I grew up. Plum’s a great place. Embrace it.”

Murtaugh, who graduated with Bell, popped into Bell’s class near the end of the period where Edwards was speaking. Murtaugh said she also was a “C” student who “wasn’t really interested in school.”

“You don’t have to have it all figured out,” she told the class. “It’s OK to pause.”

Murtaugh, 52, lives in Sewickley. She had not been to Plum High School for a decade and found she didn’t recognize it anymore.

Not one to seek awards, Murtaugh said she was honored to be remembered and nominated by a classmate, Gallagher.

Murtaugh said her message to students was that they can win and lose, and that failing’s OK.

“There’s no guarantees in life. Just because you’re the smartest kid in class doesn’t mean you’re going to be successful,” she said. “Just because you have a slow start, doesn’t mean you won’t get to your destination. Don’t let others judge you on what you should be. That’s for you to decide.”