Former Westmoreland County commissioner Richard Vidmer dead at 77

Richard “Dick” Vidmer was a fighter, whether it was on the football field as a star quarterback for Hempfield Area High School and the University of Michigan, as a Westmoreland County commissioner from 1985 to 1999, or as one who engaged in an almost 40-year battle — both public and private — with multiple sclerosis.

“He was truly a genuine man. He never let his disease get him down. He never let that break him,” said Trudy Brigode of Hempfield, Vidmer’s chief of staff as county commissioner and a longtime friend.

Vidmer, 77, of Hempfield, died Sunday, April 3, 2022.

Born on Dec. 24, 1944, in Myrtle Beach, S.C., a son of the late Milan and Marian Vidmer, he was a star quarterback at Hempfield Area High School under the late coach Bill Abraham. After graduating in 1963, he went on to star as the quarterback for the University of Michigan. His talent on the field and intelligence in classroom was recognized when he was named an Academic All-American.

Gene Ciafre, Brigode’s husband and owner of General Products & Supply Inc., recalled his first meeting with his longtime friend. It was on the football field when Vidmer’s Hempfield Spartans played Ciafre’s Latrobe Wildcats. Ciafre quipped that he still remembers the pain in his shoulder from tackling Vidmer.

“He was the type of guy who never gave up,” Ciafre said.

Vidmer cut his political teeth as a chief of staff for the late Rep. Don Bailey, a Greensburg Democrat who served in Congress from 1979 to 1983. The two had a connection because they were football teammates and roommates at Michigan. When Bailey lost a bid to continue in Congress in a redrawn district, Vidmer help to coordinate Bailey’s successful run for state Auditor General in 1983.

Having earned his political stripes, Vidmer was appointed a county commissioner in 1985 when John Regoli left the post to work for Bailey.

At the time when Vidmer was a county commissioner, Democrats controlled the courthouse. Vidmer had a split with his fellow Democratic commissioner, Ted Simon, who opted to support Pittsburgh Pirates baseball legend Bill Mazeroski in the 1987 Democratic primary. Although Mazeroski had name recognition from his World Series-winning home run in 1960, Vidmer beat him in the primary.

His strength was that he could work with Republican politicians, whether they were the late Sen. H. John Heinz or the late Terry Marolt, who was a county commissioner with Vidmer, Bridgode said. Vidmer would say they he had to be a “Republicrat,” Brigode said.

His work across party lines chafed Tom Balya, a Greensburg Democrat who ran a successful campaign for county commissioner in 1995.

From Bayla’s perspective, Vidmer was a bright, ambitious man “whose physical challenges may have cut short a bright political career.”

Vidmer was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1983 after a minor car accident, Brigode said. Yet, he did not want to slow down and reveal the diagnosis. He remained energetic, still running. But, Brigode said that as the disease progressed, he became more limited and problems with his walking become more noticeable. She said it was after the late Congressman John Dent’s funeral in 1988 that she urged Vidmer to tell the public what he had been battling.

“It was like someone lifted a million pounds off his back,” Brigode said.

Brigode said he had many caretakers over the years, those he helped along the way who in turn helped him in dealing with debilitating symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Vidmer is survived by his sister Sarah VandeVisse and a brother Gary Vidmer.

A memorial service is planned for 3 p.m. June 18 in the Mason-Gelder Funeral Home Inc. 201 N. First St., Jeannette. Donations can be made to www.nationalmssociety.org.