Fernett remembered for his love of kids playing sports

FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — Fayette County Commissioner Greg Fernett is being remembered fondly following his weekend death. Greg Fernett (Midland Trail Facebook) Fernett was elected in 2024 and began on the commission in January 2025 but it was Fernett’s decades as a sports referee, umpire and football official that he was best known for. “He was full of life,” fellow official and SSAC officiating clinician Larry McCloy said Monday on MetroNews Midday. “There never a time in the 30 years that I knew Greg that he wasn’t joking and for people that knew Greg will probably laugh when I say this—but he was always talking.” Fernett worked with Little League baseball and softball, was an SSAC basketball official for 35 years, a football official for 35 years and a baseball umpire for 26 years. “He was all about the kids playing the sport,” McCloy said. One time, according to McCloy, Fernett showed up as a part of a 4-person crew to work a middle school football game but the other officials didn’t show up. McCloy said Fernett decided to officiated the game alone. “He made it work and those kids got to play that game even though I’m sure it was taxing on him, physically and mentally, but that’s what Greg was all about,” McCloy said. The Fayette County Commission said in a statement Fernett “advocated for the people of Fayette County and especially for its children. The Commission and its staff express their deepest condolences to Greg’s loved ones and community members who share in this great loss.” McCloy said Fernett will always be remembered. “We lost a family member, I lost a family member on Saturday, somebody I dearly loved. He will definitely be missed but he will never be forgotten,” Fernett said.