Former longtime Washington Mayor ‘Sonny’ Spossey dies
Longtime Washington mayor, barber and youth baseball enthusiast L. Anthony “Sonny” Spossey died Tuesday at the age of 86.
“He was a Washington city-loving man,” said his daughter, Lisa Gorby. “Anything and everything that he could do to make this city better, he was going to try and do it. He was born and raised here, and he felt that as he had family and his family had family, he wanted to make this a better place for all of his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
Spossey served four terms as the city’s mayor, as well as stints as councilman and treasurer.
A barber by trade for 64 years, he owned Spossey Hair Center on West Chestnut Street, working at first with his father, Louis E. Spossey, and later with daughter Lisa, who has since retired. At one time, it was a three-generation operation, of which Spossey was proud.
He also spent many years coaching youth baseball in the city and working with the annual PONY League World Series.
Spossey was born August 20, 1937, to Louis and Margaret Spossey. He married Carolyn Scott on Jan. 3, 1957, who died June 15, 2011, at 72. In addition to Gorby, the couple had two sons, Wray and Mark Spossey.
Gorby said her father enjoyed being in charge and had a knack for numbers, so his service in public office suited him well.
“He always liked to run everything,” she said. “He liked to be the president, the founder. He would start low and always ended up being the one in charge.”
Spossey was interviewed for the book, “Stories of Italian Immigrants to Washington, Pennsylvania” in 2019 shortly after he retired as a barber. His last day on the job was Aug. 21, 2019, a date chosen for good reason.
“I decided that when I was 82, I was going to quit barbering,” Spossey said at the time. “I was 82 on the 20th of August and I retired on the 21st of August.”
Spossey was active for many years in Barber’s Union Local 285, serving as president and secretary-treasurer.
He also recalled his initial foray into politics in 1984, saying he knew people may have been thinking, “How can a barber run the city?”
“But Sonny was not just a barber; he was an emerging leader with a deep commitment to the community,” the book reads. “Furthermore, his demeanor – easygoing, responsive, hard-working – proved to be a good fit for the job.”
In that interview, Spossey talked about the Americanization of his mother’s and father’s names by the school system. His mother’s name was changed from Giambra to Chambers and his father’s from Espositio to Spossey.
“They (the teachers) didn’t like that (name), so they changed it to Spossey,” Spossey said at the time. “My dad told me that it was very simple. The teacher just decided that’s what they were going to call him and that’s what they used. There were no papers, or anything done. They just changed the name.”
He said he earned the nickname “Sonny” from his grandmother, who once called to him, “Sonny, come here.” From that day on, that’s what everyone called him.
As mayor, Spossey established the Neighborhood Drug Corps to address a growing problem in the community and increased access for equality for people with disabilities. He also guided the city through other improvements such as the renovation of the Main Street cityscape and the establishment of the Business Improvement Program.
Among the many honors he received over the years included the NAACP Human Rights Award, Community Action Southwest Citizen of the Year and Man of the Year for Washington by the Junior Chamber of Commerce.
Spossey also served in numerous organizations, including as chair of the Washington County Democratic Committee and the Washington-East Washington Joint Authority and as a member of the Washington County Board of Appeals. He was a member of the Democratic State Committee and was a recognized delegate to the Democratic Convention of 1996.
With a passion for youth baseball, Spossey served as the president of World Series Tournaments Inc., the organization that has been producing the PONY League World Series since 1981. He also served as president of Washington Youth Baseball.
“He played baseball when he was a kid,” Gorby said. “He was a pitcher back in the day. He always loved the game.”
Present-day Mayor JoJo Burgess said Spossey served in the mayor’s office during his childhood.
“He’s someone we remember doing things that were necessary to help this city move forward,” Burgess said Tuesday. “It’s a great loss to the community and our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.”
Former Mayor Scott Putnam also recalled Spossey with fondness.
“You can’t say enough good things about what Sonny Spossey meant to the city of Washington,” Putnam said. “He was involved for a long time and did a lot of good things.”
Washington Councilman Ken Westcott unseated Spossey in a contentious election in 1999 after Spossey’s first three terms as mayor. The pair ran against each other in the Democratic primary in 2007, a race that was won by Spossey.
Westcott said he’s known Spossey most of his life, as his wife’s family and Spossey’s family have a great friendship.
“I was involved in Sonny’s first couple campaigns for mayor of the city of Washington,” Westcott said. “Although our views differed from time to time, I always appreciated and respected his passion for the city of Washington and the passion he had in his work as a city official. “Sometimes we didn’t see eye to eye, but I always respected the job he did and what he did for the city of Washington.”