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Pat Mayerchak was a man of many talents. He was an accomplished scholar, musician, storyteller, world traveler, political pundit, community activist, erstwhile elected official and automobile enthusiast, despite being legally blind and unable to obtain a driver’s license. Mayerchak, who died Dec. 28 at age 79, touched the lives of many while making a huge impact on this community.
A native of Covington, Ky., Mayerchak arrived in Lexington back in 1974 to accept a position as political science professor at Virginia Military Institute. He quickly attained a reputation as an innovative educator and popular lecturer. He taught at VMI for 33 years, founding the institute’s International Studies Department. An expert on Southeast Asia governments, he led cadets on multiple international trips and initiated military exchange programs with Mongolia and Thailand.
Mayerchak served on Lexington City Council for 11 years, through most of the 1990s and into the early 2000s. As a member of Council, he advocated for education, economic development, affordable housing, regional cooperation with other local governments and improving the city’s infrastructure.
Endowed with musical talent from a young age, he could play most any instrument. While a student at the University of Kentucky in the 1960s, he was a member of a pop band, the Shoguns, that had a loyal following in northern Kentucky and across the Ohio River in Cincinnati. He played rhythm guitar and was the band’s principal songwriter. All five of the bandmates went their separate ways into non-music careers following graduation from college.
However, the band reunited briefly, about 45 years later, after each had retired from their respective professions, to go into a studio to record a new album. They picked up where they had left off nearly five decades earlier. “The distinguishing characteristic of our band is that we could play together so easily, so well,” Mayerchak told this newspaper in a 2015 interview. “Musicians would come to hear us because we were tight. We could change tempo and key without stopping – just a nod.”
During the decades Mayerchak made his home in Lexington, he remained an active musical performer. For more than 20 years he was a member of the House Mountain Band with Rockbridge area residents Ray Blouin, Harold Conklin and Dan Newhall. Later, he played with the Coprolites, a VMI faculty band fronted by vocalist Wade Branner, the radio voice for the Keydet sports teams and now-retired sports information director. More recently, Mayerchak had been performing with an eclectic gathering of musicians Wednesday mornings in downtown Lexington, and as a member of The Sunrise Ridge Boys Band at the Kendal Retirement Community.
Mayerchak made his presence known in the Rockbridge area community in other ways as well. As a political pundit and storyteller on local radio programs, he was never shy about sharing his views on the issues of the day, though he was always civil in exchanges with those with whom he disagreed. He made this point in a letter to the editor a little over a year ago, after attending a Rockbridge County School Board meeting in which students had spoken out on a controversial issue.
“Sincere thanks to the Rockbridge County High School students who participated in last week’s School Board meeting at the Maury River Middle School. They demonstrated real courage, speaking on issues of importance to everyone,” wrote Mayerchak. He went on to write, “Speaking directly with others who have different perspectives and points of view may not be easy, but it is one of the best ways to calm the waters of political debate.” He concluded that he was “optimistic, believing that people have the capacity to listen to others with opposing views, and to find at least some common ground on the issues which divide us.”
That sentiment represents an insightful perspective that each of us would do well to follow. This is but one example of Mayerchak’s positive contributions to our community. We will miss him.
