Administrative assistant Michelle Patterson talks with Scott Filler, CEO of Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Altoona. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski

The Central Blair Recreation and Park Commission will bestow its Respected Citizen Award this year on an individual who has a deep relationship with the organization and a memory of details to match.

In a recent conversation about the award he’ll receive at the commission’s Community Classic Dinner on Feb. 28, Scott Filler, 61, recalled a sixth grade basketball game in a tournament run by the commission’s predecessor organization that resulted in the first of many trophies for Filler in an athletic career stretching from grade school to college, followed by years of coaching and financial support for young athletes like he once was.

Filler remembered that in that game at the old Howard Avenue Armory, he scored all 26 of his team’s points in a 28-26 loss, netting him the trophy for best performance in a losing cause, while Steve Wright also scored 26 for the winning team — with a kid named Kavalet scoring the other two points for that other team.

He also remembered enough about that day to correct a piece of erroneous information he’d given at first — the Kavalet brother that scored those two points for the opposing team was Scott, not Nicky.

Athletics were formative for Filler and proved to be good preparation for a business career capped by working for the last 37 years at Encompass Health, previously HealthSouth, in Altoona — the last 28 as CEO.

“I think my athletics competitiveness and drive (was) transferrable to my professional career,” Filler said. “Those attributes carry over.”

Filler learned sports growing up on Crawford Avenue near Geesey Park.

He and his friends would play all day long — basketball, baseball and football.

At night in the summer, they’d play “fast rubber ball” under the street light on the corner.

Some days, he would spend hours alone throwing a baseball up and slamming it into the backstop at Geesey.

He often played with older kids, which benefited him when he began playing organized sports against kids his own age.

One of those older kids was his brother Bill.

There was a time when Scott couldn’t get a shot off when he and Bill played basketball, which convinced Scott that he wasn’t any good at the game — and that it didn’t make sense for him to try out at Stevens Elementary School.

Bill explained that Scott’s problems were all because of the age difference.

Bill’s explanation proved right.

Moreover, by the time Scott turned 13 and had “thickened up,” he was beating his brother routinely.

At Altoona Area High School, Scott earned eight varsity letters — playing football, basketball and baseball.

As a senior, he was named most valuable player for basketball and baseball and outstanding offensive player in football.

He was offered a full scholarship to play baseball at both the University of North Carolina and the University of Virginia.

He didn’t care to play at Virginia, and he put off the UNC offer, hoping for a similar offer from Penn State.

He wanted to play near home.

“I was in love,” he said.

That love interest was Lisa Helsley, who grew up four blocks away on Crawford Avenue and had gone to St. Mary’s Elementary and Bishop Guilfoyle.

They met when she attended one of his basketball games.

She’s now his wife.

The Penn State offer never came, though, so Filler reached back out to UNC, and said he was finally ready to accept its offer.

But two months had passed, and by then it was too late: the school had given the scholarship they’d offered to Filler to the son of Bill Robinson, the former Pittsburgh Pirate.

So Filler ended up going to the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

At UPJ, he was a pitcher and an outfielder on the school’s nationally ranked team, receiving honorable mention as an All American.

He stopped playing after his freshman year, however, even though he’d received interest from the scouts of several minor league teams.

“(That) broke my Dad’s heart,” he said.

But Filler had more important things on his mind: he was engaged to Lisa, and quitting baseball enabled him to spend more time with her.

He doesn’t regret any of it, he said.

They have two kids.

Good preparation

Playing in commission leagues as a youngster — and playing school sports — gave Filler an opportunity to bond with other kids, enhance his social skills and to sharpen his ability to compete, Filler said.

His participation in sports then and later helped him develop relationships with teammates and opponents and to learn discipline, leadership, respect and commitment, he said.

His later roles as coach and financial supporter of the commission programs enabled him to help pass on some of those benefits to “kids that sometimes need a mentor or a strong parental figure,” he said.

His own mentors included the late AAHS basketball coach Larry Betar, whose mantra was that good preparation and practice would lead to good results.

He has used that lesson in his professional life, Filler said.

It’s hard to overestimate the value of recreational programs like those the commission offers — including their capacity for luring kids away from TV, computers and phones and into activities that can be key to maintaining mental health, according to Filler.

The drive that propelled Filler in sports has carried over to his job: he’s missed only one day of work in 38 years, he said.

That was probably due to the flu, he said.

It’s also due to “good genes,” he said.

His father also missed only one day of work during his 37 years at Veeder Root, Filler said.

When told he’d been chosen for the Respected Citizen Award, Filler resisted, according to commission Executive Director Mike Hofer.

“This whole recognition — I didn’t want it,” Filler told the Mirror. “(But Hofer) said he heard that from the previous 15 recipients.”

The award is humbling, Filler said.

It’s ultimately a “no-brainer” to accept it, given that such recognition can help the organization raise money it needs,”

Filler said.

“It’s (also) a nice accolade,” he said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.

The Filler file

Name: Scott Filler

Age: 61

Residence: Altoona

Family: Youngest son of William and Nancy Filler; wife, Lisa, formerly Helsley; daughter, Jenna Orr, wife of Joe; and son, Jacob, husband of Kaylee Stangl; grandchildren, Ivy and Ava Orr; and August and Everett Filler

Education: Altoona Area High School, 1982; Bachelor of Science in business management and finance, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, 1986; Master of Business Administration, Saint Francis University, 1998

Career: CEO of Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital, Altoona, for 28 years; former adjunct professor in Saint Francis’ Master of Business Administration Program; coached numerous youth football, baseball and basketball teams

Other activities: Member of Journey Church, Hollidaysburg; the Jaffa Shrine Provost Guard and AMBUCs