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Bert Piscotty, 83, educator at Chester's St. James High

Adalbert "Bert" Piscotty, 83, of Brookhaven, a teacher and musician, died of multiple organ failure Tuesday, June 22, at Broomall Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Marple Township.

a teacher in many subjects, was a musician, too. He started the school band and led an alumni choir.
a teacher in many subjects, was a musician, too. He started the school band and led an alumni choir.Read moreAdalbert "Bert" Piscotty,

Adalbert "Bert" Piscotty, 83, of Brookhaven, a teacher and musician, died of multiple organ failure Tuesday, June 22, at Broomall Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Marple Township.

During his 39 years at St. James High School in Chester, Mr. Piscotty taught English, Spanish, business math, public speaking, typing, music, and Polish. He also was a guidance counselor, an activities director, and moderator of the forensics team, and he founded and conducted the high school band.

He retired in 1987.

When the school closed in 1993, graduates who wanted to keep the school spirit alive formed the Blue and Gray Voices, an alumni choir. Mr. Piscotty, who graduated from St. James in 1944, became choir director. Under his tutelage, the choir grew to 50 members by 1999 and sang sacred music and St. James school songs at reunions, churches, nursing homes, and weddings.

Michael Ritz, president of the St. James Alumni Association, told an Inquirer reporter in 1999that Mr. Piscotty "was Mr. Music for many years at St. James, so while the school may be gone, a piece of it lives on through him and the other choir members."

Mr. Piscotty continued to conduct the choir and was involved in numerous activities until suffering a stroke in 2005.

While he taught at St. James, he and his wife operated music stores at several locations in Delaware County, where he also gave music lessons. He was a virtuoso accordionist and played many other instruments, said his daughter, Patricia Metzger.

For years, Mr. Piscotty, who was of Polish descent, conducted the orchestra at the Polish American Eagle Citizens Club in Chester and was organist and choir director at St. Hedwig's Church in Chester. He organized the Polish choir that performed at the 1976 Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia, where he met Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II. For 14 years, he hosted a Polka Time on WEEZ-AM in Chester.

After retiring from St. James, Mr. Piscotty taught English as a second language at the Polish Cultural Center in Philadelphia, at churches, and at Delaware County Community College. For 25 years, he was a judge at the Delaware County Daily Times Spelling Bee.

Mr. Piscotty was a travel guide and organized domestic and overseas tours. He and his wife, Eva Majewski Piscotty, also did private catering.

He had many interests and kept busy from 6 a.m. to 10 or 11 o'clock at night, son Michael said.

Mr. Piscotty grew up in Luzerne County. His family moved to Chester in 1942.

He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in education from the University of Pennsylvania and took postgraduate courses at several universities. He had a certificate in holistic health from Rosemont College and lectured on the subject.

He and his wife met at a Polish club where his band was playing, and they married in 1950.

As advocates for their oldest son, Gerald, who is deaf, they supported mainstreaming deaf children in the Penn-Delco School District. Gerald went on to earn a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from California State Polytechnic Institute.

In addition to his sons and daughter, Mr. Piscotty is survived by another son, Joseph; a sister; and seven grandchildren. His wife died in 2003.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Tuesday, June 29, at Our Lady of Charity Church, 231 Upland Rd., Brookhaven, where friends may call after 9. Burial will be in SS. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Marple Township.