Shawn Kuhn leaves legacy of joy, service in Allegheny Township

Family members described Shawn Kuhn as “larger than life, a friend to all.”

Kuhn was director of public works for Allegheny Township — but his involvement in the community reached far beyond his municipal duties. He was former president of the Allegheny Township Athletic Association and the Kiski Valley Baseball and Softball Association, and he did field work along with coaching. He also coached Kiski Area High School boys soccer and served as president of the school’s Ski Club. He worked a second job with Kuhn Excavating Inc.

“Some people go to work because they have to go to work,” said his wife, Diana Kuhn. “He found joy in everything he did. Work was nothing to him. … That man found joy in everything he did.”

Kuhn died unexpectedly Monday at the age of 49, after what family members suspect was a heart attack.

Shawn and Diana Kuhn met when they were just 15 — they were practically raised together, she said. After briefly dating at the time, they split, but started dating again just before Diana’s 17th birthday. They’ve been together ever since, and have been married 24 years.

In those combined years, Diana Kuhn said they did just about everything together. She would help him with his side jobs at Kuhn Excavating. They’d go skiing and hunting and camping together.

“We were a duo,” she said. “He was the love of my life.”

It was hard for Kuhn’s family to put into words what drove him to be so giving, so involved in the community in so many facets. He was constantly volunteering for things, leading sports teams for the high school and for the township, taking on new projects in his role at public works and offering a helping hand to whoever needed it.

Doug Kaufman, Shawn’s brother-in-law, added that Kuhn will undoubtedly leave a legacy as someone who was a friend to all — someone who legitimately enjoyed helping others.

“All of us go through life and we put on faces and we do the right things,” Kaufman said. “But for Shawn, that came really, really easy, because he truly was that open with anybody that he would meet.”

Diana Kuhn said there are “a million stories” she could tell in which her husband stepped up to help others with no interest in personal gain or concern about himself. That’s what led him to become president of Kiski Area High School’s Ski Club, she said, after the club’s previous leader retired with no one to replace him. Shawn and Diana had been in Ski Club as teenagers, and he didn’t want to see it go away. This year would have been his fifth season coaching, had it not been canceled because of the covid-19 pandemic.

Even beyond his coaching duties, Kiski Area Superintendent Tim Scott said Kuhn was incredibly connected to the school community – not just through his children but through his nieces and nephews and his work with Allegheny Township.

Scott said Kuhn was the first Kiski Area parent he met upon becoming superintendent in 2015. Scott drove to the main campus on a weekend in July to move into his new office, but when he arrived, with his car full of boxes, the gate was closed.

Moments later, Kuhn pulled up behind him, Scott said, hoping to get on campus to do some grounds work for the district. He called Chad Roland, Kiski Area High School principal, and got both of them in.

“He just appeared everywhere, and everyone seemed to know him,” Scott recalled. “He never went anywhere within 20 or 30 feet of me without making sure he said hello to me.”

“He was just a wonderful person,” he said.

Township officials remember Kuhn as someone who went above and beyond the typical duties. Greg Primm, the township manager, said Kuhn was responsible for a major technology upgrade in public works, fitting all trucks with iPads and software that tracked the township’s stockpiles of building materials — he completely streamlined the process for completing public works reports and for managing complaints.

He led the township into taking on ambitious public works projects that improved the community, while managing to save money by avoiding the bidding process in many cases.

“We did projects that most municipalities wouldn’t even attempt to try. They would bid it out to contractors,” Primm said. “I can’t tell you the amount of taxpayer dollars he saved us because he did projects ourselves without having to bid it out.”

But beyond his resourcefulness, Primm and other municipal officials said Kuhn was a natural leader. People respected him, looked up to him and were drawn to him.

“Shawn could lead anybody,” said Kathy Starr, a township commissioner who knew Kuhn since he graduated from high school with her children. “A road crew, a soccer team, baseball players, an outing of friends. He led with a smile, and he led by example.”

Since Kuhn’s unexpected death, Diana Kuhn said she’s heard so many comments about his smile. Everyone knew how “special, amazing, selfless” he was, she said. He’ll leave a legacy as someone who cared deeply for others and who improved the community in just about every aspect.

“That’s truly how he felt,” she said. “He wanted to make his community a wonderful place for everyone.”