WEST CHESTER — Just after sunset on Friday, people gathered in the heart of the Chester County Justice Center to honor Michael Rellahan, a longtime West Chester Daily Local News reporter, who died on Oct. 25.
Loved ones unveiled a legacy plaque, placed at the center of a wooden bench where Rellahan often sat. It reads: “Remembering Michael P. Rellahan. Our Newspaperman. Daily Local News reporter from 1982 to 2025.”
Led by Chester County Judge Patrick Carmody with the support of the county government, people shared remarks honoring Rellahan’s life’s work, reporting happenings in the courtroom and the county.
Judge Carmody shared he wrote a “carefully worded” letter to the commissioners acknowledging that while Mike Rellahan at some point angered everyone on the board, here’s what this bench means to the people of the Chester County Justice Center.
Mike would come down from the courtroom and sit on this bench, and people would come up and talk to him, Carmody recalled.
“And I’d argue with him,” Carmody said. “He connected with people.”
Carmody reflected on the memorial wording of the plaque that was ultimately selected. Before landing on “our newspaperman,” other ideas included “conscience at the courthouse.”
He really gave a voice to many people, Carmody said.
The highest brass from county government was in attendance, including Commissioners Marian Moskowitz and Eric Roe, and David Byerman, the chief executive officer, and Becky Brain, the public information officer.
Carmody, Roe and Ryan Costello delivered remarks, as did Rellahan’s best friend, Jamie McVickar.
Costello said most people knew Rellahan was fair.
“Unlike a lot of reporters who are a kind of gotcha, he was just trying to get the story out and make sure that people read something that was objective and that had texture and then pulled in like the history of the community and the people that lived in the community,” Costello said. “And there was pride in what he did.”
Local journalism has sharply declined across America for the last two decades. Yet Rellahan wrote with purpose, never wavering in that mission.
Costello is a former county commissioner and also served as a representative in the U.S. Congress.
“I don’t think that the county is able to replace that just because of the way that the newspaper industry — it hasn’t evolved — it’s very much aggressed in that regard,” Costello said.
“When you look at this building, which has been here for 15 years, you know, he was here the whole time. And there’s a building down the street that, you know, he kind of came of age in. And there’s a lot of people that walked in here wanting justice or had political ambitions or worked 9 to 5, and he saw them all,” he said.
“And throughout their life, whether it was that individual or what they did here, he reflected that to a county of a half a million people that had growth and had challenges and had good times and bad times. And that’s a special thing. And that’s a special life,” Costello said.
Costello said the word “community” has changed compared to decades ago. It’s a 24/7 society, with people on their phones constantly.
“But if there’s anybody in Chester County that was able to help define what the Chester County community is or was and what it’s becoming, it was Mike Rellahan.”
McVickar said Rellahan was a fair, old-school journalist, and someone with a quick wit.
They met at Earlham College and have remained close friends ever since.
McVickar called the police when he didn’t hear from his best friend. He was worried. He went to Rellahan’s home, but there was no answer. He had already called and emailed him repeatedly without a response.
When he called the police, McVickar said the dispatcher asked, “Who is the person?”
“I said, ‘Michael Rellahan. I think you probably know him.’ And there was a pause, and the guy said, ‘the newspaperman?’”
McVickar continued, “Mike would have loved that. That’s what Mike wanted to be. He wanted to be a newspaper man for a smallish town.”
Walking in West Chester, McVickar said many people would greet Rellahan on the streets. He was well-known — as a newspaperman covering local news for 42 years in Chester County.
“We don’t all achieve our dreams, and I think Mike did,” McVickar said.
Rellahan’s sister, Emma Wathe, traveled from Cincinnati to be there. She stood by the bench as dignitaries and friends shared heartfelt stories of her brother’s legacy in Chester County as the “newsman” who was tough, fair and invested in the truth while covering the courts and breaking news and legacy stories that impacted the lives of mourning families far beyond the scope of a traditional obituary.
His nieces, Emily and Alice, and brother-in-law, Michael Wathe, were also in attendance.
“Think about the millions of words he wrote, recording what happened in this county,” Roe said. “How many thousands or hundreds of thousands of those words that you read of his, whether you realized it was him or not?”
Roe reflected, “My first interaction with Mike, he was testing how gullible I was. I was a brand new politician and had never run for anything before.” From there, the men forged a mutual respect.
“That respect lasted all the way up until the day before he passed away,” Roe said.
“The day before he passed away, he said, ‘Eric, I want to buy you breakfast next week.’ And I never got that breakfast, and I regret that I ever did,” Roe said. “I just want to thank you all for honoring a good man who took pride in his work. And without him, Chester County just wouldn’t be the place it is today.”
“Mike was a great guy who also was extremely conscientious about his job,” Carmody said. “He was always searching for the truth and to be fair to everybody. He, in a sense, was a dinosaur, but in the very best of ways, because he represented local news at its finest.”
Source: Berkshire mont