Philly and PA have lost a loyal public servant
He became the first Republican to win a citywide election since 1969. Also the last.
We lost a good man the other day, Ron Castille.
The first time I laid eyes on him was the summer of 1985 on North Broad Street.
It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was leaving work at the Daily News, on 400 N. Broad St., now police HQ.
Ron was alone on that sunny afternoon, on crutches, hopping into a small white Jeep.
He was running for district attorney, as a Republican, and I’m guessing he was coming from the HQ of the Fraternal Order of Police, then located on Spring Garden Street. The cops were for Castille, a decorated Marine officer who left his right leg in Vietnam.
Look at that guy, I thought, campaigning with no entourage. And everyone knows Republicans have no chance of winning a citywide race in Deep Blue Philadelphia.
Except in 1985 Castille had the good fortune to be running for an open D.A.’s job against a Democratic nonentity.
He became the first Republican to win a citywide election since 1969. Also the last.
I voted for him that year, and also when he ran for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, at least in part because I am deferential to those who have served in the military, most especially when they were wounded.
Later, I got to know Castille, and found him to be a centrist Republican who had a good sense of humor. He never used his crutch as a crutch, you might say, and my eyes popped when I saw him teeing off after removing a prosthetic leg he sometimes used. He also skied on one leg.
During a mini interview I was doing on him during some political campaign — it may have been the 1991 Republican mayoral primary against Frank Rizzo — Castille asked me if I could mention in the story that he was Italian, not French, as his name sounded. In Philly, he knew it was better to be Italian rather than French, especially when running against a Rizzo.
The campaign was down and dirty, with Rizzo’s forces spreading word that Castille was a drunk.
I was happy to report Castille was Italiano, but Rizzo won handily anyway. Had Rizzo not died in August, he would have run for mayor against lifelong Democrat Ed Rendell.
Castille took the loss in stride, former Mayor Rendell told the Inquirer. He had been Castille’s boss when Castille was an assistant district attorney and they remained friends.
Rendell praised Castille’s “great work” as a prosecutor, and also the model of fairness he was after he was elected chief justice of the state high court.
Casille devoted his life to public service and had lived a full life by the time he passed at 82.
Philadelphians, and Republicans, could use more like him.
Ciao, amico mio. Goodbye, my friend.
