It's been more than five years since Elmer Massey died.

But as long as baseball is played in Butler, the former umpire will be connected to the game.

Massey, who died in 1999 at the age of 78, was a fixture on Butler County diamonds for 30 years.

Butler County American Legion president and East Butler manager Dess Schnur got to know Massey well.

"He umpired all levels of baseball in the county, from Little League to American Legion and Eagle County," said Schnur. "He was well liked by just about everybody."

Massey's love affair with sports began long before his umpiring days.

Massey grew up on Wayne Street in Butler and graduated from Butler High School in 1940, afterwards playing a few seasons as a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Crawfords in the Negro Leagues.

He later became a basketball referee, which is how he met Jim Senopole.

"We both officiated basketball games in the early '60s," Senopole said. "By 1968, we were certified to do football and baseball games as well.

"He was one of the best officials in three different sports that I ever worked with," he added. "If he could have umpired seven games a week, he would've done it."

Though he worked basketball and football games for more than 30 years, it was on the diamond that Massey left his biggest impression."He wanted complete control of the game," said Schnur. "That's why he wanted to be behind the plate in any game he did. He had a consistent strike zone and was very knowledgeable about the game."And he would take no disrespect," said Schnur. "The coaches and players all knew it. If a player came to the plate with his jersey hanging out, he'd let them know about it. And if anyone gave him a problem, he'd throw them out. But he did it all for the love of the game.""Elmer was tough when he had to be," said Senopole.Schnur shared one story that exemplified Massey's no-nonsense attitude on the field."It was an American Legion game and we were hosting Karns City," he said. "We had an 11:30 p.m. curfew, meaning that we wouldn't start a new inning that late. We didn't want to get complaints from nearby houses about the field's lights."Well, here it was about 20 after 11 and I let Elmer know about the curfew."His reply was, 'That's not a rule, is it?'" Schnur added.Schnur tried to explain it was put in place to be considerate to the people living close to the field.Massey replied, "Ah, that's just your rule. We're gonna keep playing.""The game ends up going into the 12th inning, finishing about 1:30 a.m.," said Schnur. "I ended up getting complaints about the lights being on that late into the night. I accepted the responsibility. But that was Elmer," he said, laughing.Massey was inducted into the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1974 and served on the Hall's selection committee for 25 years.He was also affiliated with the National Federation of State High Schools Association and the Chesapeake Basin Collegiate Umpires Association, among other organizations.Schnur pulled a few strings so that several BCAL games could be played at Three Rivers Stadium in 1994. He made sure Massey was on hand to umpire."That's one thing he always wanted to do was umpire at Three Rivers," said Schnur.Even in the last few months of his life, Massey wanted to be on the diamond calling balls and strikes.Two months before he died, Massey tried to umpire a game at Pullman Park."They had to replace him after a few innings," said Schnur. "His legs kept giving out on him."To those who knew Massey, his presence and personality are still fresh in their minds."Elmer and I went about things a different way back then," said Senopole. "We didn't kiss anybody's butt so that we could do games, and that's the way it should be.""I miss him," said Schnur. "He took the game very seriously and was a great umpire. One thing's for sure - he hasn't been replaced."