McDowell

Jerilyn Ruth Jeffreys McDowell, 69, of Slippery Rock passed away Thursday at UPMC Presbyterian in Pittsburgh.

She was born on Oct.19, 1942 in Painter Hospital, McKeesport and was a resident of Slippery Rock since 1949. She was the daughter of the late W. Lee and Rebecca Elizabeth (Backstrom) Jeffreys.

She was transportation manager for the Slippery Rock School District from 1974 until 2005 and was pupil transportation consultant for the Wilmington School District from 2005 to 2008.

She was a member of the Center Presbyterian Church of Slippery Rock and a former Sunday school teacher.

Through the years, she had served the community in various capacities including being a Brownie leader, a girls’ softball coach, a member of the Slippery Rock Women’s Club, board member of the Slippery Rock Parks and Recreation, and an active member of the Slippery Rock Volunteer Rescue/Ambulance Team for 9 years, serving as an EMT.

She was a CPR and first aid instructor, and a state evaluator of EMTs. She had been active in developing local, county and state guidelines for emergency medical services.

Prior to her retirement, she served as a member of the Butler County Crisis Team, president of Midwestern Pupil Transportation Association, and western director of the Pennsylvania Pupil Transportation Association.

More recently, she served as a volunteer in computerizing the records of the Slippery Rock old and new cemeteries as well as five other cemeteries in the area. She served as president of the Slippery Rock Cemetery Association from 2007. She was a member of the NRA, the Slippery Rock Sportsmens Club and the Slippery Rock High School Alumni Association. She served as president of the Slippery Rock Heritage Association and is co-editor of the oral history of northern Butler County “The Way We Were” published in 2012.

Her hobbies included genealogy, knitting, crocheting and sewing. She loved history and reading.

Survivors include her daughter, Teri Lynn (Sanderson) Hensel and her husband, Christopher, of Newfoundland, Pa.; her son, Thomas Ray Sanderson and his wife, Vicky (Ripley) Sanderson, of Slippery Rock; five grandchildren, Autumn Allison, Tommy (Lori), Jim (Christine) and Travis Sanderson, and Ashley Hensel, all of Slippery Rock; one great-granddaughter Anabelle of Slippery Rock; her sister-in-law, Denise McDeavitt and husband, Thomas, of Slippery Rock; her former husband, John A. McDowell of Slippery Rock; two sisters, Audrey L. Devey of Clarion and Phyllis G. Lanham of West Newton, Pa.; her twin brothers, William L. Jeffreys and his wife, Thelma, of Slippery Rock and Willis G. Jeffreys and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, of Erie; and numerous nieces and nephews.

MCDOWELL — The family of Jerilyn Ruth Jeffreys McDowell, who died Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012, will receive friends at the Smith Funeral Home, 421 New Castle St., Slippery Rock on Monday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. and Tuesday from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The service will be at the Center Presbyterian Church, 211 Center St., Slippery Rock at 2 p.m. Tuesday with the Rev. William Mumaw II, pastor, the Rev. James Lewis, pastor of the West Liberty United Methodist Church and a family friend of Jerilyn, presiding. Interment will follow in Slippery Rock Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be given to the Slippery Rock Cemetery Association, in care of Bill Martin, 208 E. Cooper St., Slippery Rock, PA 16057; or to the Lung Cancer Foundation, Industrial Road 1, San Carlos, CA 94070; or to The Slippery Rock Heritage Association, PO Box 511, Slippery Rock, PA 16057.