The man behind the name of Mitch’s Gym will surprise you

“Who’s Mitch?”

That question might have been asked by thousands of people when they entered Mitch’s Market Street Gym, the workout place that once occupied a former commercial laundry building in the 300 block of West Market Street in West Chester.

The answer is surprising.

“Mitch” was not a body-building, Schwarzenegger-strutting, macho-manning, weight lifter, but rather a smiling, somewhat short, effervescent Chester County man who lived his life in happiness and joy, and with Down syndrome, the genetic condition that affects hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of men, women, boys and girls in the United States.

Those hoping to hear more about “Mitch” will, unfortunately, have to get the stories about him from those who knew him. John Edward Mitchell of Berwyn died on May 27. He was 64.

“He was pretty much my light,” said his younger sister, Donna Markley of Valley, who opened Mitch’s gym in 1999 in the former West Chester Laundry building. “He was my ray of sunshine.” When she was deciding what to call the workout venue, she thought of her brother as inspiration.

“I tried to come up with a name that would fit, and he brought such light. I decided to honor him in that way, and use the gym to educate others about people with special needs, and do a positive thing for the community,” she said in a recent interview. “I’m not sure he really understood it, but when I would ask, ‘What’s Mitch’s?’ he would say, ‘That’s my gym.’”

So, in addition to being a place where people could exercise, get in shape, and sweat, Mitch’s gym became a place where the customers could interact with those people they might not otherwise have gotten a chance to meet. Markley made sure that agencies would help recruit people with special needs to work at the gym, some of them younger people trying to learn how to mainstream into the community and get paying jobs.

The gym also hosted an annual Chester County Down Syndrome Interest Group Dance, usually around Valentine’s Day, with deejay duties taken on by someone with Down syndrome who could spin records and get people on their feet. Memberships were also offered to special needs individuals.

“It worked,” she said. “People could see them and be educated about these special people who are out there in the world. You could just seem them light up.”

Mitchell, or “Johnny” to his family, was born in 1959 in Darby, Delaware County but grew up with his family of four siblings and parents, John and Pat Mitchell, in West Chester. Living with a son and brother with Down syndrome was not easy on the family, as not much was known about Trisomy 21 (a genetic condition caused by an extra chromosome) or how people affected by it could live their lives at the time. According to early statistics, many were institutionalized and lived only into their 20s.

Markley said she grew exasperated when she saw other children reacting negatively towards her brother because of who he was.

“I was very protective of him,” she said, thinking of people rudely staring at him. “He looked different, not how kids normally looked. As a child, that upset me.” She also remembers being heartbroken when her parents made the difficult decision to begin sending him to Melmark, the private school that provides services for children and adults with autism and other intellectual and developmental challenges located in Newtown, Delaware County.

“I would be in tears when we would drop him off,” she said. “But my father would say, ‘Donna, he loves being there, and he loves being with us at home.’ They were both home to him. He had two large families — ours was large, but Melmark’s was larger.”

Living with a Down syndrome, however, did not make life gloomy for Mitchell, his sister said.

“He didn’t see the negatives,” she said. “Everything was just bliss for him. People like Johnny are very non-judgmental. They are just happy. They have no filters. And they are always happy to see people, which is amazing.”

And true. So says Marilyn Mitchell, Markley’s sister-in-law, who came to know “Johnny” when when she started seeing Patrick Mitchell, his brother, who she later married.

“Whenever I would see him, the first thing he would say is, ‘I want to marry you,” Marilyn Mitchell said in her law office in West Chester recently. “He would say it in a heartbeat. He was joyous always.”

She said Mitchell could “swim like a fish in his family’s backyard pool,” and was the “Number One Fan” of the Lawrence Welk Show.”

Studies suggest that those with Down syndrome live into their 60s, and some develop increased cognitive decline as they grow older. That was true for Mitchell, even though his life at Melmark provided him with a security that those who lived before him might not have imagined.

“Melmark was a blessing,” she said. “I can’t imagine my parents having to make that decision, but it was the best thing to happen to Johnny.” He got an education, he could see his potential, and he could be around people who could support him.” He lived there for 57 years.

“Johnny taught me the best thing in life is to give, and be giving,” Markley said.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and is survived by his siblings and their significant others: Patti Mitchell; Dave and Carol Mitchell; Donna Markley and Jo; and Patrick and Marilyn Mitchell. He is also survived by his nephews and their significant others: Dave and Bre Mitchell; Dustin Mitchell and Cheryl Young; and Hunter Mitchell, as well as great niece Hailey Grace Mitchell and a great nephew expected in November.

A celebration in his memory will be held at Melmark, 2600 Wayland Road, at 10:30 a.m. Friday, July 12, which would have been his 65th birthday. Those who would like to attend are invited.

To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.