In Memoriam: Pitt freshman Ryan McGovern

Ryan McGovern was a straightforward young man who knew what he wanted from life.

“You know,… Ryan McGovern was a straightforward young man who knew what he wanted from life.

“You know, I think he had the next five to 10 years of his life all planned out,” Ryan’s aunt, Lisa Friello, said. “He was very into the ROTC and knew that was what he wanted to pursue. He had an uncle who was in the Air Force and I think he looked up to him quite a bit.”

McGovern, a freshman, died unexpectedly on Feb. 13 in Beaver County, where his family lives. He died at Heritage Valley Beaver, a hospital in the area.

Beaver County Coroner Teri Tatalovich-Rossi said the cause of death is pending an investigation. She said she did not know when the investigation would conclude.

A graduate of Hopewell High School, about three hours east of Pittsburgh, McGovern played volleyball for the Hopewell Vikings for four years, lettering both his junior and senior years.

Many people involved in his life said that McGovern was committed to Army ROTC. His older brother, Patrick McGovern, said he was a devout Pitt fan.

“Ryan loved Pitt. It was the only school he applied to. I think it had something to do with my loving Penn State, and being my younger brother, he loved to annoy me,” Patrick McGovern said. “If I had to guess, I would have to say that about half of our conversations had to do with Pitt and Penn State.”

For the past two years, the brothers had been saving their spare change to buy tickets to the next Pitt vs. Penn State football matchup, whenever it might happen. At last count, they had $250.

Ryan’s favorite part of the ROTC was the physical training. With intentions of going to basic training this summer, Ryan wanted to finish his time in college as a member of the Army National Guard and, after graduation, go on to active duty with the hope of serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Beyond that, he had aspirations of working with either the FBI or the CIA, his brother said.

Patrick McGovern went on to say that, in a lot of ways, Ryan was like a little brother to a lot of Patrick’s friends.

“I never messed with him in that stereotypical older brother way, but my friends sure did. He never complained and sort of enjoyed it. He had a little rivalry with my one friend who went to WVU, and they often argued about the football or basketball Backyard Brawls,” the older McGovern said.

The Pitt freshman was a fan of reality TV, Olympic gymnastics and Glenn Beck, and his love of Pitt was no secret to those who knew him.

Ryan McGovern’s Sutherland suitemate and closest friend at Pitt, Marc Pelberg, said that he and Ryan went to all the football games and as many basketball games as they could get tickets to.

McGovern and Pelberg could often be found together lifting weights in Trees Hall or playing basketball. In both exercise and social interactions, McGovern was always level-headed and never lost his cool, even when Pelberg would try to get a rise out of him.

“I remember this one time we were in the gym lifting and deciding on what exercise to do next, and I just turned to him, threw my weights down and screamed at the top of my lungs ‘What do you want to do next, Ryan?!’ but all he did was smirk,” Pelberg said. “That’s just the kind of kid he was.”

After spending a great deal of time with him throughout the year and planning to live with him next year, Pelberg said Ryan McGovern was one of the nicest kids he ever had the pleasure of knowing.

“I wish I would have had time to get to know him better. I only knew him for a short time and even though I was lucky enough to have so many experiences with him and getting to know him as well as I did, I wish I could have gotten to know him even better,” Pelberg said.