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Hempfield band, community show support for Terry Ranieri, their biggest fan | TribLIVE.com
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Hempfield band, community show support for Terry Ranieri, their biggest fan

Renatta Signorini
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Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Nathan Fedornak, plays his trombone as the Hempfield Area Marching Band performs for Terry Ranieri, 64, after he was brought back from the hospital for hospice care, at his home along Beacon Valley Road in Hempfield Township, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019.
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Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Color guard member Jonathan Wisegarver, waves to Terry Ranieri, 64, after the Hempfield Area Marching Band performed at his home along Beacon Valley Road in Hempfield Township, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019.
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Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
The Hempfield Area Marching Band performs for Terry Ranieri, 64, after he was brought back from the hospital for hospice care, at his home along Beacon Valley Road in Hempfield Township, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019.
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Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review
Terry Ranieri gives out high-fives to passing students while socializing with fellow fans on Sept. 28, 2018 at Hempfield Area High School’s Spartan Stadium during Friday night football.
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Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Terry Ranieri, 64, moves his hand with the music, while listening to the Hempfield Marching Band perform outside his window, after he was brought back from the hospital for hospice care, at his home along Beacon Valley Road in Hempfield Township, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019.
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Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Terry Ranieri, 64, claps his hands with the music, while listening to the Hempfield Marching Band perform outside his window, after he was brought back from the hospital for hospice care, at his home along Beacon Valley Road in Hempfield Township, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019.
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Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Hempfield Superintendent of Schools,Tammy Wolicki, presents Terry Ranieri, 64, with a distinguished alumni plaque, after he was brought back from the hospital for hospice care, at his home along Beacon Valley Road in Hempfield Township, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019.
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Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Debbie Anderson, 53, presents a “Get Well Terry” sign, to Terry Ranieri, 64, after he was brought back from the hospital for hospice care, at his home along Beacon Valley Road in Hempfield Township, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019. Anderson has known Terry since she started taking her daughter to the mall when she was little.
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Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
The Hempfield Area Marching Band performs for Terry Ranieri, 64, after he was brought back from the hospital for hospice care, at his home along Beacon Valley Road in Hempfield Township, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019.
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Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Angela Mitchell plays her flute while the Hempfield Area Marching Band performs for Terry Ranieri, 64, after he was brought back from the hospital for hospice care, at his home along Beacon Valley Road in Hempfield Township, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019.
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Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Terry Ranieri, 64, listens to the Hempfield Marching Band perform outside his window, while his brother Danny, 72, stands in the doorway, after being brought home for hospice care, at his home along Beacon Valley Road in Hempfield Township, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019.
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Dan Speicher | Tribune-Review
Terry Ranieri, 64, listens to the Hempfield Marching Band perform outside his window, while his brother Danny stands in the doorway, after being brought home for hospice care, at his home along Beacon Valley Road in Hempfield Township, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019.
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Shane Dunlap | Tribune-Review
Fellow Hempfield alumni Erica Shuglie holds out her phone to Terry Ranieri to give him a chance to say hello to one of her family members Sept. 28, 2018 at Hempfield Area High School’s Spartan Stadium during Friday night football.

A special performance for a beloved member of the Hempfield community shut down a township neighborhood Tuesday.

Members of the Hempfield Area marching band played outside Terry Ranieri’s Beacon Valley Road home while he sat at a front window and listened from inside. About 100 band members, flanked by at least that many families and other onlookers, showed up to support Ranieri, who has long been a supporter of the district’s program.

“He just brought a smile to every kid’s face for decades,” said band director Brian Tychinski.

Ranieri came home to hospice care Monday after health problems forced him to spend weeks in the hospital, first at Excela Westmore­land in Greensburg and then at UPMC Montefiore in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood. He has cancer, brother Tony Ranieri said. The visits from friendly faces, dozens of cards and Facebook comments from friends on his Terry Ranieri Official Fanpage brightened the Ranieri family’s spirits during the prolonged hospital stay, Tony Ranieri said.

“It’s been really amazing, the support has been incredible,” he said.

It’s a testament to the impact Terry Ranieri has had on generations of students at Hempfield Area. He graduated from the district in 1975 and attended home football games regularly in the decades since.

He would greet fans at games while watching the band warm up for their halftime show or offer up some of his classic “Terryisms” — such as “jammin’ like Route 30” and “cool like whip.”

“There’s no better reason to be a musician than” to share that gift with others, Tychinski said. “He’s always been a great fan of theirs and they appreciate him.”

Under warm, sunny skies, the band played “Crazy Train,” “Sweet Caroline” and the high school fight song in the middle of a residential neighborhood. The drum line — Ranieri’s favorite — gave him a few percussion solos. Ranieri moved his hands to the beats.

“I think it’s an honor and a privilege, especially because I wasn’t aware how much he loved the band,” said senior Elle Penska, who plays baritone saxophone. “It feels good, especially my last year, being able to give back to someone who means so much to the community like that.”

Clarinet player and band president Sydney Hoffman agreed.

“Doing something like this for him means a lot, especially for me, because we’re giving back to him for all the times he’s supported us, we’re supporting him now,” the senior said.

Fort Allen firefighters, township public works and state police shut down roads as the band paraded through the neighborhood. Members of the color guard and majorettes danced to the music and cheerleaders waved their pom poms.

Some of them know Ranieri, who has a developmental disorder called Williams syndrome, from Westmoreland Mall where he would spend Saturdays. After the performance, they walked up to the window to say hello to their No. 1 fan.

While Ranieri was a patient at UPMC this month, electronic wishes were numerous, Tony Ranieri said.

“Cards just started flying in,” he said.

A hospital employee brought music to Terry’s bedside, his brother said. A video of their duet of Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” was posted to Ranieri’s fan page and exploded, Tony Ranieri said.

“The family’s so appreciative of everything,” he said.

Onlookers and others who heard about the event through social media flocked to the neighborhood near Hannastown Golf Club. Curk Fry said he remembered Ranieri cheering for runners during cross-country and track meets at Hempfield when Fry ran for Greater Latrobe in the 1990s.

As Fry got older, he’d chat with Ranieri at the mall.

“He spoke to everybody, he didn’t care what they had going on in their lives,” he said. “He had an impact on my life.”

Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.

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