Walter "Junior" Ridenbaugh Jr.

Walter Raymond Ridenbaugh Jr., the first child of Walter Sr. and Mildred (Hake) Ridenbaugh, was born in New Castle, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, October 25, 1938. His father worked for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) and his mother was a homemaker.

Walter Jr., or simply Junior, reflects on his early days:

“When I was born my Mom and Dad lived in a small bungalow on the east side of New Castle. I don't know the address. We then moved to an apartment for a short while. All that I know is that it was above a billiards room on East Washington. Then when I was about two years old we moved to 608 E. Washington St. It was half of a double house. The landlady was Mrs. Mary Farris. I had a very strong bond with her. At times Mom, her, and I would go to the movies. Her and I would sneak across the street and get hamburgers every once in a while. Mom would get upset because she had usually made lunch for me. Every Friday night was football at the stadium and the band would march from the square downtown. When it came near our house Mary and I would march with the band to the stadium and then we would walk home.”

Walter Jr., describes some of the trouble he caused as a youngster at the East Washington Street house:

“When the electric man would come to read the meter, Mom had to go down to the cellar and I would lock the door so she couldn't get back. One time I took the flour and mixed it with a can of lye. Another time I lit a railroad flare on the kitchen floor. It was a lucky thing that I was caught doing things like this. I was no angel. These are just a few of the memories that I have of living there. Maybe that is why I never forgot the address.”

In 1945 his parents bought a house, where they would make their longtime home, in South New Castle at #2310 Morris Street. The Ridenbaugh’s added to their family over the years: Sandra was born in 1941, Lynda in 1946, George in 1951, and finally Donna in 1953.

Walter started school in the fall of 1945 while attending the first grade at the Oak Street School. He then transferred to J. P. Byers Public School for grades two through eight. During the seventh grade he got an after school job at Joseph’s Supermarket in New Castle and worked there for the next five years. For high school Walter attended the old Shenango High School and was among the eighty-one pupils who graduated in May 1957.

While growing up Walter’s mother Mildred, later known by the nickname Mimi, made sure he and his siblings attended services and lots of activities at the Madison Avenue Christian Church in Mahoningtown. On the weekends the kids went bowling, to the movies, and roller skating. Walter went to a lot of movies often with his cousin John Hake. He frequented the State Theater on Long Avenue and the Crescent Theater in Mahoningtown.

After high school Walter left New Castle to find employment at various locations including such major cities as Chicago, Baltimore, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. He always made his way back to New Castle, where he eventually took a job in the laundry department at St. Francis Hospital in 1966. Three years later he found a new job at the Macaluso Nursing Home out on the West Pittsburg Road, where he would get his sister Lynda a part time job as a nurse’s aide. At Macaluso he became supervisor of housekeeping and laundry and later worked in administration. For a time he lived in a nearby mobile home owned by the Macaluso family, until he bought it from them outright.

Walter left Macaluso in 1985 to work at the Elliot Brothers Steel Company in Mahoningtown. He enjoyed working at the family-run business and was treated well. He lived nearby at #108 East Wabash Avenue and often walked to work. It was not long after that Walter made a friend named Karen Seibel down in Pittsburgh who became a close confidant to him and his family in general. Walter wrote to me in June 2010 and relayed, “I can't give Karen and her daughter (Jaime) enough thanks for all that they have done.”

The years went by and in the spring of 1997 the family suffered a terrible tragedy. On the late afternoon of March 25, 1997, Walter’s elderly parents were killed in a house fire at their longtime home in South New Castle. Walter was given paid time off by Elliot Brothers to take care of the arrangements and settle up all their affairs. His parents were laid to rest in Graceland Cemetery in New Castle.

In the coming months Walter began to suffer from a serious left knee problem, which led to knee replacement surgery in the fall of 1998. Unable to return to the steel mill he moved down to central Florida in June 1999. He took up residence in the city of Hernando, in the same area where his sister Lynda had relocated to back in 1978. Two years later he started working at Citrus Memorial Hospital in nearby Inverness (where his sister Lynda was also employed for a time). Walter worked there briefly until he retired for good on January 2, 2003. He remained living in Florida as he settled into retirement.

A couple of years later, in 2005, he has found to have some cancerous tumors on his colon and bladder. Walter said this of the days that followed:

“I was scheduled to have an operation in Citrus, but the day before a doctor tried to remove the tumor from the bladder and he made a hole from the bladder to the colon. The other doctor canceled the operation and made an appointment at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. It took me about a month to get things set up to go there. In the meantime believe me it was no picnic. After I got there what was only supposed to be a four day stay turned out to be three weeks.”

The operation was a success and Walter has been cancer-free ever since. Walter, who enjoys the outdoors and the company of his small dog, has yet to return to New Castle since moving and continues to reside down in the Sunshine State.