On Friday July 11th, just before midnight, Arthur Royal Decker set off across the Jordan, full of hope, and ready to meet his Savior and all those who had gone before him marked with the sign of faith. He lived a life of faith, prayer, repentance, hard work, perseverance, humor, generosity and especially near the end: joy and gratitude. He had been ready for as long as we knew him, and always said that he was kept alive so that he could bring one more to the Lord Jesus. His loved ones are grateful that he was kept in the mission field for so long, because it meant we all had the benefit of one more story from the old days, one more off-the-wall joke, a serenade, another dinner blessing, or a kind word of encouragement to treasure. He was born in the coal mining town of Ellsworth, PA, the second son of Arthur F. Decker and Louise Malloy Decker. The family left Ellsworth when he was young, and he lived the first decades of his life at various addresses in Ross Township and Bellevue, where he and his wife Helen of Brighton Heights first lived together after their wedding in 1950. For the majority of these decades, he was a member of Bellevue Christian Church. They had three daughters together, moved briefly to Penn Hills, and ultimately settled down in West Deer Township in 1968 where Art would live for the remainder of his life.

His first job was as an apprentice to the oldest plumber in the plumbers' union. His second was at Federal Enamel in McKees Rocks. He worked some other jobs including at a foundry in the Rocks and a longer stint at H.J. Heinz as a sanitizer before receiving his draft notice and entering the U.S. Army in 1944. He first reported to Fort Eustice, Virginia, completed basic training at Fort Meade, Maryland, and later spent time at Fort Bliss in Texas and Logan Heights in New Mexico. His time in the service consisted of time training in an anti-aircraft artillery unit, and guarding German POWs. He returned to Heinz after the war and then did work on the Emsworth Lock and Dam on the Ohio River before embarking on his 39-year career at PPG, first on the North Side, and later at the Springdale plant. He didn't miss a day for the first 12 years, set records for pallets unloaded by forklift in an hour, came up with safety slogans for a nickel, captained the internal plant fire brigade, had a mostly successful informal boxing career with the other men from the plant, and many other escapades besides. After retiring in 1987, he was known to spend time in the vegetable garden, smoke his pipe until his grandson suggested he kick the habit in 2006, read his Bible, frequent West Deer's own Deer Creek Diner, Palmer's and Siciliano's, walk the dogs, spend time at Dorseyville Alliance Church at one function or another, go for a swim, pick up the tab or give a gift (after all, money is "only paper"), listen to his portable radio, watch Jeopardy, baseball, or a fight, pop a Werther's or some cashews, and generally enjoy some rest surrounded by his family. He loved his family and was very proud of their accomplishments, and kept pictures of them in his wallet and on his dresser mirror. He would say regularly "Blessed is the man who lives to see his children's children." He was always proud to have served his country, and recently joined the American Legion, officially in ~2023. He loved his Legion hat and jacket. He served as the chaplain at local Veterans' Day and Memorial Day commemorations for many years.

The last few years of his life were quieter, but he never lost his fighting spirit nor the glint in his eye. He had a habit of bouncing back better than ever from even the most serious of health scares, pushing past a hip fracture to dance at his youngest granddaughter's wedding last month. His last week he was on one final adventure with his wife, daughter, and son-in-law, an annual trip to Bethany Beach to visit relatives. He passed away the day the trip concluded, shortly after arriving home. He was certain he had wanted to go, but as the trip was winding down, he said he was ready to get back somewhere more familiar and comfortable.

He was preceded in death by his parents (whom he always faithfully visited, even when his mother was 109 and Art himself was 88), two brothers Milton and Jack, and countless other friends and relatives. He is survived by Helen, his wife of 74 years, his three daughters, Carol (Jamie) Decker/DeFloria, Diane (Kevin) Galbraith, and Eileen Van Scoy, six grandchildren Matthew Heylmun, Kristen (Eric) Longhenry, Laurel (Nathan) Baker, Christopher (Samantha) Galbraith, Austin Aja, and Kelli (Joshua) Bechtold, and three great-grandchildren, Micah Stepien, Wyatt Stepien, and Paige Baker.

The family welcomes all to come and pay their respects at Adam Siemianowski Funeral Home, 179 Starr Road, Russellton, 15076 from 2-4 PM and 6-8 PM on Friday 7/18. The service will take place at the funeral home at 11 AM on Saturday 7/19, with burial to follow at Deer Creek Cemetery. In addition to flowers, he would have appreciated donations to be made to Dorseyville Alliance Church, his church of 50+ years.  The West Deer American Legion, Post 935, will conduct military honors in the funeral home at 6 pm.  For online condolences, please visit, www.westdeerfuneralhome.com