Obituary for Terry Lee Divelbliss
Terry L. Divelbliss, 80, of McMurray, passed away after a brave years-long battle with pulmonary fibrosis on Friday, July 29, surrounded by his loving family. Born on March 20, 1942, to John L. and Kathryn (Squires) Divelbliss, he grew up working on the family dairy farm in Scenery Hill from childhood through college.
He graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1960, where he was class president, played in the marching band and helped organize class reunions for decades thereafter. In 1964, he earned a mathematics degree from California State College, the first in his family to attend college. That same year, he married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Yanish, a coalminer’s daughter from Cokeburg, who worked as a secretary at the Heinz Company to help support his college education. After college, he taught at Washington High School before taking a leap of faith to join the new field of information technology at Blue Cross in the late 1960s, with a new home and first child on the way. He then worked as a systems analyst for Weirton Steel and soon after joined the IT management team at PPG Industries, where he worked at Six PPG Place for over 20 years, a longtime participant in PLUG and other IT industry organizations. He retired in 2002 in time to welcome his first grandchild. During his professional career, he commuted from Eighty Four, usually with one or more commuting friends, so he could come home, change from suit to shorts, and care for his meticulously kept home, yard and garden on Linnwood Road, where he happily raised his family and lived a peaceful life for nearly 50 years.
Known as a gentle man with a strong presence and inability to sit idle, he volunteered as Boy Scout Leader for Troop 1103 in Washington and took the troop each year to Camp Heritage, where he and his son were awarded the Order of the Arrow the same year. After retirement, he delivered Meals on Wheels, prepared tax returns for elderly neighbors and volunteered through the church, including traveling to help flood victims in the South rebuild. Industrious and ingenious, Terry loved the most challenging of chores and maintenance projects, taking pride and delight in solving problems especially at his children’s homes, for which they were incredibly grateful. A lifelong Lutheran, he was an active member of First Lutheran Church in Washington for decades, serving as head of Christian education, acolyte leader and a member of the bell choir. He later joined Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in McMurray, where he was council president, a member of the chore team and sang in the choir with a dear group of friends who loved dining out together before choir rehearsal and after church. He traveled the globe and went on numerous cruises with family and friends, took his family to Disney World every year, supported cultural organizations in Pittsburgh and Washington, and learned to drive in New York City to visit his grandchildren often.
Terry was a loving, devoted husband of 58 years, a beloved father who was always available with a quick wink of encouragement and a helping hand, and a loving grandfather ready for fun with boundless love and patience, especially for his autistic grandson Daniel. He will be dearly missed more than words can say but will live on in our hearts forever. In addition to his wife Barbara, he is survived by a son Terry Alan (Cyndi) of McMurray (now the council president of Our Redeemer), a daughter Elaine (Steven Libenson) of Ridgewood, NJ, three beloved grandchildren, Daniel, Lindsey and Clarissa Libenson, his sister Sally (Walter) Dovshek of Cokeburg, his brother David (Rachel) of Weirton, WV, nieces and nephews, and his lap cat Jimmy.
Visitation will be held at Beinhauer Funeral Home at 2820 Washington Road in McMurray on Monday, August 1, from 2-4pm and 6-8pm. A celebration of Terry’s life will be held at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church at 105 Gateshead Drive in McMurray on Tuesday, August 2, at 10:30am. A luncheon will be held at Valley Brook Golf Club at 11:30am. Interment will follow at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Scenery Hill.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Terry’s honor to Washington City Mission (https://www.citymission.org/) and the Washington County Humane Society (https://www.washingtonpashelter.org/).
He graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1960, where he was class president, played in the marching band and helped organize class reunions for decades thereafter. In 1964, he earned a mathematics degree from California State College, the first in his family to attend college. That same year, he married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Yanish, a coalminer’s daughter from Cokeburg, who worked as a secretary at the Heinz Company to help support his college education. After college, he taught at Washington High School before taking a leap of faith to join the new field of information technology at Blue Cross in the late 1960s, with a new home and first child on the way. He then worked as a systems analyst for Weirton Steel and soon after joined the IT management team at PPG Industries, where he worked at Six PPG Place for over 20 years, a longtime participant in PLUG and other IT industry organizations. He retired in 2002 in time to welcome his first grandchild. During his professional career, he commuted from Eighty Four, usually with one or more commuting friends, so he could come home, change from suit to shorts, and care for his meticulously kept home, yard and garden on Linnwood Road, where he happily raised his family and lived a peaceful life for nearly 50 years.
Known as a gentle man with a strong presence and inability to sit idle, he volunteered as Boy Scout Leader for Troop 1103 in Washington and took the troop each year to Camp Heritage, where he and his son were awarded the Order of the Arrow the same year. After retirement, he delivered Meals on Wheels, prepared tax returns for elderly neighbors and volunteered through the church, including traveling to help flood victims in the South rebuild. Industrious and ingenious, Terry loved the most challenging of chores and maintenance projects, taking pride and delight in solving problems especially at his children’s homes, for which they were incredibly grateful. A lifelong Lutheran, he was an active member of First Lutheran Church in Washington for decades, serving as head of Christian education, acolyte leader and a member of the bell choir. He later joined Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in McMurray, where he was council president, a member of the chore team and sang in the choir with a dear group of friends who loved dining out together before choir rehearsal and after church. He traveled the globe and went on numerous cruises with family and friends, took his family to Disney World every year, supported cultural organizations in Pittsburgh and Washington, and learned to drive in New York City to visit his grandchildren often.
Terry was a loving, devoted husband of 58 years, a beloved father who was always available with a quick wink of encouragement and a helping hand, and a loving grandfather ready for fun with boundless love and patience, especially for his autistic grandson Daniel. He will be dearly missed more than words can say but will live on in our hearts forever. In addition to his wife Barbara, he is survived by a son Terry Alan (Cyndi) of McMurray (now the council president of Our Redeemer), a daughter Elaine (Steven Libenson) of Ridgewood, NJ, three beloved grandchildren, Daniel, Lindsey and Clarissa Libenson, his sister Sally (Walter) Dovshek of Cokeburg, his brother David (Rachel) of Weirton, WV, nieces and nephews, and his lap cat Jimmy.
Visitation will be held at Beinhauer Funeral Home at 2820 Washington Road in McMurray on Monday, August 1, from 2-4pm and 6-8pm. A celebration of Terry’s life will be held at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church at 105 Gateshead Drive in McMurray on Tuesday, August 2, at 10:30am. A luncheon will be held at Valley Brook Golf Club at 11:30am. Interment will follow at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Scenery Hill.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Terry’s honor to Washington City Mission (https://www.citymission.org/) and the Washington County Humane Society (https://www.washingtonpashelter.org/).