To those who knew him, Steven Menefee was a loving husband, father, and a man of faith.

To Bryan Dascani, he was a best friend for more than four decades.

For 20 years, Mr. Dascani, Mr. Menefee, and five other men all now in their 50s who became friends at Southmoreland Elementary School — some as early as preschool — spoke nearly every day in a group chat.

On Monday, they were devastated to learn Mr. Menefee, 52, was one of two men to die in an explosion in the U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works plant, leaving behind his wife, Danielle, and their two daughters.

“If I could go back in time and trade places with him, I would have done that,” Mr. Dascani, 52, said. “He changed my life.”

In the days since the explosion, there have been press conferences and fundraisers set up to help thos

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