WELLSBURG, W.Va. — Sean Blumette didn’t want to believe the news he and his wife were receiving Sunday morning.
The athletics director and an assistant principal at Brooke High School had gotten calls and texts that his co-worker and friend Ron ‘Ronnie’ Ujcich Jr., the longtime head baseball and golf coach at the school, had died suddenly in an accident Saturday.
Blumette said once he confirmed that the 45-year old had died in an ATV accident in Piney, West Virginia while on a hunting trip with his family, he was at a loss for words.
On Monday, Blumette spoke with MetroNews and had kind words for Ujcich. He said Ronnie touched so many lives in Brooke County.
“He was friends with everybody. His personality was so big, so outgoing. There is going to be a huge void in this building even outside of the athletic realm,” Blumette said.
Blumette said Ujcich was one of the longest-tenured coach in the athletic department at Brooke, arriving to teach at the school around the turn of the century. He had the baseball job for 15 years. He was a graduate of Brooke in 1993.
Less than two weeks ago, Ujcich coached senior Ryan Bilby to consecutive low medalist honors at the state golf tournament in Wheeling. Blumette said Ujcich walked step for step with Bilby on the course and was so proud of him and all his athletes every day.
Blumette said through those relationships built on the course and diamond, many students are devastated.
“The current players are devastated. The former players that recently graduated are devastated. Because he (Ujcich) stayed in touch with them because of the relationships that they built here,” he said.
“He wasn’t afraid to coach and coach hard but he always did it in a way where they knew that he cared.”
His love for his students was the thing that stood out to Blumette about Ujcich the most, something he said everyone noticed. Whether being on the baseball field at 10 p.m. after a game, getting it ready for the next matchup or helping bring golf regionals to Williams Country Club in Weirton, Blumette said Ujcich wanted the best for his students.
He said the baseball and golf programs were two programs he didn’t have to worry about with Ujcich at the helm.
“He put his players and students above everything. And what he did on his own time, out of his own pocket to provide materials, supplies, meals, and transportation,” the athletics director said.
Blumette said schools around the state and in Ohio have reached out to express condolences and it shows the amount of respect he carried.
Communities around West Virginia reaching out is lifting spirits up around the school, according to Blumette. Counselors are on hand at Brooke High School for students, teachers, and staff to mourn and remember the beloved coach and teacher.
Blumette said it’s going to be hard not to see Ronnie every day across the hall from the athletic department and have that helping hand no matter the event.
He said there is a major void at Brooke High School and in Brooke County with Ujcich gone.
“He was a second-generation teacher here, he graduated from here. His mom taught here for years, his dad was here for years and his uncle taught here and then served on the school board for several years,” Blumette said.
“He was the epitome of someone who bleeds green and gold. There was no question of that when it came to Ronnie.”
Ujcich is survived by his parents, three siblings and six nieces and nephews, in which he coached one in baseball and golf this year.
His visitation will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 20th from 2-8 p.m. at Mullenbach Funeral home in Follansbee.
His funeral will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 21st at 11 a.m. at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Wellsburg.