Staff photo / Dan Hiner Austintown athletics stalwart David “Bear” Patrick poses at Richard L. Coppola Field before a middle school practice.

AUSTINTOWN — For over 40 years, David “Bear” Patrick could be seen pretty much everywhere on the Austintown Local School District campus.

Behind the scorer’s table, near the dugout or attending football practice, Patrick has been a fixture in Austintown athletics going back to his high school days.

“It’s been fun to be around the kids,” Patrick said.

Patrick wears many hats when it comes to Austintown sports.

He’s an assistant coach for the middle school football team, and he handles the clock for soccer games, volleyball matches, freshman football games and middle school basketball. When the spring rolls around, he makes sure the umpires have baseballs and keeps track of pitch counts with an old clicker counter when the Falcons take the diamond. He does all of this, in addition to helping the boys basketball team with its jerseys, water and locker room maintenance in the winter.

“I like sports,” Patrick said. “I like football, baseball, basketball, hockey.”

Patrick’s journey began in 1983 when he was a freshman at Austintown Fitch.

He played baseball when he was younger, but limitations with speech and walking prevented him from playing at Fitch when he got to high school, so he took on the responsibility of becoming the Falcons’ team manager.

It started by working in football for then head coach John Savage, and by the winter, he was working with the boys basketball team when Rich Deniman was in charge.

As time passed, Patrick began working in more sports and at various levels in the school district.

In 2012, he began working with freshman baseball coach Joe Chepke. And with that decision, Patrick’s schedule was booked solid from the start of fall sports until the end of the academic year.

“It’s fun and busy helping out with football every year,” Patrick said. “Being around the kids, and in sports too, it’s fun.”

For his work with Austintown sports over four decades, Patrick was inducted into the Fitch Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018 as a contributor.

“What he ensures when we talk about additional contributions … knowing every kid by their name is important to him,” Fitch assistant athletic director Brian Umstead said. “It’s important if those kids reach out to him, he always remembers it. And the alumni that go away that come back, they always seek him out. That makes his day, it does.”

Patrick is unable to drive himself to the campus, so Umstead assists with the travel.

After working with each other, Umstead respects Patrick for his willingness to assist with the variety of sports the school district has, as well as his passion for athletics.

“In today’s day and age, you just don’t get that,” Umstead said. “You know that if you reach out, he’ll help. And if he sees something wrong, he’ll point it out to us, which is important to us as well.

“And the dependability. … The district works hard with him — the coaches, myself and also parents — in making sure he gets to Point A to Point B each and every day. His schedule is mapped out, and he knows it by heart. He knows who we’re playing two Fridays from now, and that’s why he’s in our athletic Hall of Fame as a contributor.”

There are plenty of people who help with local sports throughout the Mahoning Valley for an extended period of time. But what sets Patrick apart is his dedication to each sport that he assists with over the course of the year.

When the Falcons go on the road, he makes sure to know everyone by name and understands the role he plays in each sport.

He’s become one of the most recognizable figures in Austintown athletics.

“The parents appreciate what he’s contributed, the coaches appreciate the help,” Umstead said. “He’s here for football, he’s gonna go run a tripleheader for volleyball for the scoreboard.”

It’s been over four decades and counting for Patrick, and he has no immediate plans to stop.

However, for right now, he has a plan for when he’ll step away.

“It’ll be when I reach 50 years,” Patrick said with a smile.