Donald W. Strang
Donald W. Strang, passed away Friday, February 10.
Don Strang once said that he entered this world without any fanfare, born the fourth child of a hardworking steel mill family on the last day of February in 1931. And he left this world on February 10, 2023, in his usual quiet way, his last actions being a smile to the children and grandchildren gathered around him; his last words a whispered, ‘I love you’. But that time in between his coming and his going, that is the time he built a life and a legacy that will carry his life and his love far beyond the day we said goodbye.
He was born February 28, 1931 in Homeville, a son of the late John and Esther Durst Strang.
John worked eight hours a day in a steel mill along the river in Homestead, measuring the temperature of melted steel, in a space that Don said was the hottest place on earth. His mother ran a house where no child went astray of God’s teaching without a correction, where nothing was ever wasted, where anything broken was fixed and where no blessing was uncounted. No money or time for vacations or hobbies, but Don said that when his parents, brothers and sister gathered to listen to the radio show in the quiet of an evening, he knew he was safe and loved and that his home, his life, his family was the only one he wanted.
Once he got to high school, he was challenged by some teachers to take a path other than the one that led to the steel mill. So even though no one in his family had ever gone to college, his family supported his decision to attend Slippery Rock University to study to become a teacher. Don worked seven days a week, from 10 am to midnight, every summer day at Kennywood Park in order to pay his tuition at Slippery Rock University.
He attended Slippery Rock from 1949 to 1953. During his senior year, he met a beautiful young woman at a school dance named Constance Elder. They fell in love. Don had volunteered to serve in the Army, so while Connie finished school, Don was assigned to Alaska and trained to run tanks in the event of a Russian invasion. He loved Alaska and would have built a life there if not for the beautiful girl he loved “as Connie was more inclined to warmer climates”, and the South Hills of Pittsburgh is a better place because of his return.
Don and Connie were married on June 23, 1956, and they began their teaching careers once summer ended. Don’s career in education spanned 38 years. While he was teaching and starting his family, he attended night class at the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned his Master’s in 1957 and his Doctorate in 1966. He spent five years as the Chief School Administrator at Baldwin-Whitehall School District, then 15 years as the Superintendent of Canon-McMillian School District. His leadership and vision enabled him to advance those districts where he served, improving facilities and diversifying staff to better represent his students, leaving everywhere he went a better place.
Once his children were grown, he and Connie traveled around the world, making friends in every far place. Many times their international friends would travel to the USA and would stay with Don and Connie, where they would open their home and families to their new friends.
Nothing was ever as important to Don as his family: he took his own father to the ocean for the first time and provided the same opportunity for the generations to come. When Don’s children, David and Linda, were young, he planned on a vacation every year-mostly to the Outer Banks, but also on great adventures out West. After David and Linda started their own families, Don continued to arrange for everyone to gather at the shore for a week of swimming, fishing, and card tournaments. Once the grandchildren were old enough, Don began to arrange cruises where his family was able to experience different parts of the world and begin to learn about the people and cultures with whom we share this earth.
Don had a garden out behind his home. You’d find him there most days once March started and until November came.
Donald was everything good. The good life he built was hard work-he taught us that nothing is easy, nothing good is accomplished except through hard work, but when you could do it, it was so very good. He often told his family that it wasn’t the years in our life that mattered, but the life in our years; he was, however, the exception to that maxim: he was proof that we should strive for many years of hard-earned, good Living.
Left to cherish his memory are his daughter, Linda (Terry) Bove; his grandchildren: Kevin (Allyn) Bove, Laura (Dan) Sklenka, Douglas (Amber) Strang, Rachel (Greg) Murrer and Bonnie (Jordan) Pierce; his daughter-in-law, Marilyn Kerr; his great-grandchildren: Simon Bove, Reagan and Blaire Sklenka, Dustin, Easton, Camden and Presley Strang, (soon-to-arrive) Baby Murrer, Emmanuel, Liam and (soon-to-arrive) Charlotte Pierce. Additionally, Don loved many nieces and nephews and friends.
His heart, all our hearts, were broken when his son, David, died in 2011. His beloved Connie, the love of his life, left this world in March, 2022. His brothers, Jack and Howard, and his sister, Naomi, all predeceased him.
Funeral arrangements by BEINHAUERS. Friends and Family are welcome 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., on Wednesday at 2828 Washington Rd., McMurray, 724-941-3211 where a memorial service will be held at 12 p.m. Interment to follow at Forest Lawn Gardens, with full military honors.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the American Cancer Society or the MS Society. And love your families and use your gifts to make your world a better place. Don would approve. Please add or view tributes at www.beinhauer.com.