Bill Beierschmidtt

• Post by: mcalibrary
• December 18, 2023
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INDUCTEE

Bill was born in Locust Gap, one of seven children of William and Mary Beierschmitt. At Bradely High School in Locust Gap, he was a starter on the football, basketball and track teams for three years. He played halfback in football and forward in basketball. AS a sophomore, he led Mount Carmel Township to a victory over a bigger Mount Carmel Area team. As a sophomore, he also was a first place winner in a long jump, in a meet which later became the district championships. After high school, he went to Beckley Business College in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and graduated from that institution in 1931.

He became a Director of Athletics of Kulpmont High School in 1932 and remained in that position until the jointure with Mount Carmel in 1964. He coached Kulpmont High School basketball for 11 seasons, compiling 134 wins and a 55 loss record. Five of the 11 years as Coach, he took the Wildcats to the District IV playoffs. Two of those times, his teams reached the finals. This is quite an achievement when you consider that all teams played in one classification, and Kulpmont’s enrollment was among the smallest.

He teams won three league championships, including the Susquehanna Valley League and Keystone League Championships in both 1941 and 1944.

Tom Brennan, who was then editor of the News-Item and a Kulpmont High School alum himself, commented on his ability as a basketball coach: “Even though Bill Beierschmitt’s abilities as a basketball coach are overshadowed by the creative accomplishments of his friends Mike Terry and George Wrona’s football powerhouses, his court teams were feared from Altoona to Scranton, and it was Bill Beierschmitt who was responsible for making Kulpmont a basketball hotbed.”

Bill Beierschmitt joined the Mount Carmel Area faculty in September 1965, and died shortly thereafter in December 1965. He is survived by his wife, the former Ruth Dempsey, and three daughters, Joan, Ruth and Louise.