Paul Kengor: Remembering Orrin Hatch, a Pittsburgh native son

Orrin Hatch died last week at age 88. In the political world, Hatch was a big deal. He became the longest-serving Republican senator ever, representing Utah from 1977 until 2019.

Hatch was a prominent longtime member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In sensational hearings for Supreme Court nominees Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, Hatch was front and center, often a lightning rod for detractors. What the likes of Joe Biden and Ted Kennedy were from the Democratic side of the committee, Hatch was for Republicans.

Hatch was a highly regarded conservative. He was known for his thinking on constitutional textualism and originalism. He ran for president in 2000.

Much of this might not strike readers in this Pittsburgh region as relevant to them or their local newspaper. What does Orrin Hatch have to do with this region?

Actually, quite a bit. Unbeknownst to many in this area, Orrin Hatch was a native son.

Hatch was born in Homestead in March 1934 to a metal lathe operator and a mother of nine. A poor kid who raised chickens and sold the eggs to help his family, he attended Baldwin High School, played basketball and boxed. The first person in his family to go to college, the lifelong Mormon went to Brigham Young University before returning to attend Pitt law school, where he graduated in 1969 and began practicing in Pittsburgh.

Former Pitt Chancellor Mark Nordenberg said that Hatch told him that “he and his wife had lived in a converted chicken coop while he was in law school at Pitt.”

Orrin Hatch was an inspiring success story.

When he retired from the Senate, Hatch had sponsored or co-sponsored 790 pieces of legislation that became law, more than any senator, and had been president pro tempore.

And yet, there’s not a word on Hatch’s death at the website for the Pitt law school. Here’s an alumnus who became nothing less than the longest-serving Republican senator in history. Typically, this would seem a matter of bragging rights for a university. And yet, total silence.

Is the omission politically or ideologically influenced? I don’t know, but it’s hard to imagine such a slight if, say, Hatch had been history’s longest-serving Senate Democrat.

I’m often puzzled by who does and does not get recognition as native sons and daughters from this area. Some get due recognition: Fred Rogers, Arnold Palmer, Gene Kelly, Jimmy Stewart, Andrew Carnegie, Andy Warhol, Art Rooney, Michael Keaton, Dennis Miller, Christina Aguilera and of course, many athletes, especially quarterbacks like Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Dan Marino and Joe Montana. Some remained in this area for life, but most did not. Then there are others who somehow don’t seem to get remembered as being locally raised: actress Shirley Jones, perhaps Perry Como, definitely David O. Selznick, probably historian David McCullough, even Robert Bork.

That’s debatable. The athletes tend to be recognized, often connected with the Steel City aura — i.e., “Iron” Mike Ditka. But Orrin Hatch has always stood out as unrecognized locally. Yes, he left this area long ago for Utah, but many others likewise left.

Let’s pause to give him his due. Orrin Hatch, Pittsburgh native son, rest in peace.