Theodore C. Mendala

Teddy was born in Clearfield, PA to parents who had immigrated from Poland. After graduating from Clearfield High School, he joined the US Navy at 17 to fight in World War II. He served on a fleet tanker in the Philippines, which was attacked by Japanese planes, one of which crashed on the deck. He was honorably discharged in 1946, graduated from LaSalle College in 1951 and settled in Philadelphia where he met his wife Dorothy (Gussie, Dot) Weaver on a blind date. They moved to Delaware where they raised their family and were married for 48 years. Together they enjoyed playing bridge with friends, vacationing in Ocean City, NJ and celebrating holidays, birthdays, and special events with family.

He worked as an accountant for Morton Quality Products, was a comptroller for the Episcopal Church Nursing Home (now Regal Heights), and then worked in real estate until his retirement.  He was active in St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church where he was a founder of the Knights of Columbus and participated in collecting and counting the weekly offering. He was an active member of the Sages and enjoyed fellowship, monthly meals, and trips. He enjoyed baking his specialty bran muffins and making soups and puddings! He was clever at solving Sudoku, cryptograms, and crossword puzzles. He was also an avid Phillies and Eagles fan.

He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, two sisters and his wife Gussie. He is survived by and will be greatly missed by his four children Stephen, Andrew, Carolyn Rinschler (Craig) and Barbara Trexler (Wade) and was a proud and much-loved Pop-Pop to his 10 grandchildren (Heather, Adam, Stephanie, Kyrie, Danielle, Christopher, Kyler, Natalie, Kyle, and Amy) and 5 great-grandchildren with whom he loved to spend time.