Merle Park

Merle Virginia Park passed away on Monday, September 20, 2021, while in Juniper Village Memory Care facility in Aurora, Colorado. She was 77.

Merle was born in Philadelphia on May 5, 1944, to John and Ruth (Cole) Black. She grew up in Southampton and Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, and attended Cedar Crest College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where she graduated in 1966 with a degree in sociology and elementary education. The same year, she married her college sweetheart, Bob Park, and they eventually settled in the Pittsburgh area, where Bob was employed by Alcoa, and they lived for many years in Mt. Lebanon, where they raised their two sons. She earned a master’s degree in community counseling from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

In addition to Pittsburgh, Merle and Bob lived in many other places, including Omaha, Nebraska; Droitwich, England; Long Beach, California; Beverly Shores, Indiana; and Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, where they settled in her family’s home in the 1990s.

Because of Merle’s lifelong love of vacationing at the Jersey Shore, which she had done almost every summer of her life since she was born, they had also purchased a part-time residence there. It became not only family friendly but a solid friend-making center. Thanks to her hooking up with Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore in Asbury Park, The Center Square in Belmar and a few others the last several years of her life were so enjoyable!

Building upon her training in counseling, Merle was dedicated to helping others, spending decades providing counselling, treatment, and therapy to many as well as working as a volunteer for food banks, thrift stores, and even as a costumed guide at Washington Crossing Historic Park. Of course, her enduring focus was on her family, and she was a constant support in the lives of her children and grandchildren.  She will be remembered for her unusual sense of humor, her service to others, and her devotion to those she loved.

Merle is survived by Bob Park, her husband of 55 years; her sons Jeffrey, of Boulder, Colorado, and Gregory, of Pittsburgh; her sisters Patty Baker and Debbie Piattelli; and eight grandchildren: Quinn, Naomi, Ella, Isabel, James, Milo, Nicholas, and August. A memorial will take place at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Mt. Lebanon at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, November 15, 2021. All are welcome to attend and memorialize Merle’s wonderful life. Please donate to one of the two charities that she had been so dedicated: Habitat for Humanity and Planned Parenthood.