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Jun 16, 2026 By Garrett Neese 5 min read

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a monthlong series of profiles of the people who live and work in Washington, Greene and Fayette counties, in celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

If anyone’s biked down the Great Allegheny Passage trail near Connellsville or walked along the West Yough Bridge to gaze down the river, they’ve seen his work.

Looking over the trail he helps maintain, John Irwin recalled Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle’s quote, “There’s nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer.”

“My thought was that I enjoyed my occupation very much, I live pretty good, and it makes me feel good to give back to the community,” he said. “…I enjoy doing it. It’s like a hobby.”

The Connellsville resident had been riding on the Great Allegheny Passage trail for most of his life before he was recruited to help out in 2010.

He got more and more involved until he was asked to sit on the board of directors for the Regional Trail Corporation, which owns the trail from Connellsville to Pittsburgh.

Irwin is proud of the trail, which has topped surveys that rank trails across America. The shelters near the Connellsville trailhead have housed people from 49 of the 50 states — “We just need North Dakota,” Irwin said.

And it’s brought people from Australia, England, France and Ireland to the place Irwin loves.

“I’ve asked them many times, ‘Were you visiting people here?’ They said, ‘No, we flew to here because we heard this is one of the greatest trails in the world, just to ride this trail,'” he said. “I think that’s amazing, to fly from Australia to here.”

Two or three days a week, Irwin’s out on the trail, doing everything from mowing the grass and cutting back trees to picking up garbage and helping to maintain the equipment.

In 2020, he was part of the crew that helped re-deck the West Yough Bridge and bring it into ADA compliance.

“We found out that we owned it, so we went and got our own money, raised our own funds, did all the work ourselves and built that one during COVID,” he said.

It’s part of a life built around service and volunteerism.

Irwin grew up in Harrison City in Westmoreland County, a little north of Jeannette. His father was a president and charter member of the fire hall there; his mother joined the auxiliary.

“Me and my brothers were junior firemen, and we were raised to do volunteer work, work street fairs, go help raise money for the fire hall,” he said.

It was at those street fairs that he would meet Anita. They went to different high schools — Penn Trafford for him, Jeannette for her. She kept coming over, and he eventually mustered the nerve to ask her out.

She said yes.

“We started dating, and we got married later on after I graduated from college,” Irwin said.

They’ve been married for 48 years. Good communication is the key, Irwin said.

“You keep doing little things, keep it exciting,” he said. “Every day with me and her, we get along exceptionally well. We don’t let things fester.”

Another fair during the Penn Trafford years would shape his life — this one, a job fair. Irwin and several of his friends stopped to talk with the state troopers “with the big hat on.”

All of them were interested, but Irwin was the one who pursued it, majoring in criminology in college and becoming a state trooper.

Irwin was a “road dog,” enforcing traffic laws, helping people in distress, solving crimes and sometimes being first on scene to emergencies.

Encountering violent crimes and other bad incidents was the hardest part of the job.

“Everybody thinks we can turn it off, but we’re humans,” he said. “You think about that stuff later on.”

But it could also be incredibly rewarding — saving people from car wrecks, or catching child abusers and serial burglars.

Irwin has three children — two daughters and a son, who’s now station commander of the Pennsylvania State Police Uniontown Barracks.

His children help him on the trail, as do his six grandchildren, aged 4 to 17.

“They’re helping me out at the house today, cutting grass and weed-whacking, stuff like that,” he said.

Irwin still finds time for hobbies beyond volunteering. In a concession to age, he’s eased off weightlifting and martial arts. But as a proud member of the National Rifle Association, he likes to stay sharp on shooting with sporting clays.

The trail he and his family keep up also sustains them in their off time. Along with his wife and his granddaughter, he’s ridden the Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C.

Irwin’s done his share of traveling, whether to Europe, the Gulf of Mexico, or various Viking River Cruises.

And he loves to get the whole family together for trips where they’ll rent a house for five days, and the kids can go swimming and everyone plays pickleball.

But when he thinks about where he’d like to finish out his years, it’s Connellsville.

“I think living here is a blessing,” he said. “I live in a great country.”