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Sara P. "Sally" McVay

February 15, 1937 - December 10, 2022

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Obituary For Sara P. "Sally" McVay

Age 85, of Upper St. Clair, peacefully, surrounded by her loving family, on Saturday, December 10, 2022. Loving mother of Janice M. McVay, DDS (John M. Bell) and James Mortimer McVay II, Esq. (Kristen); mother-in-law of Suzanne McVay. Adored Gaga of Sarah and Ian Bell, Will McVay IV, Maeve and Mairi McVay; sister-in-law of Martha McVay Hills. Also survived by many nieces and nephews. Preceded in death by her beloved husband, William W. “Bill” McVay, Esq., her son William W. McVay III, Esq., her sister Margaret P. Waters, her brother Austin Andrew Provins, MD, and her parents Marie Rinard Provins and Asa Austin Provins. Sally will be remembered most for her steadfast faith and deep love and compassion for her family and friends. Sally graduated from Morgantown High School in Morgantown, WV in 1953 and West Virginia University in 1957 where she received her BA in English. Following graduation, she moved to Pittsburgh to begin her teaching career where she taught ninth grade English at Bethel Park High School. She met her future husband, Bill, 2 1/2 years after her teaching career began and they married on August 6, 1960. After retiring from teaching in the early 1960s, Sally devoted her life to raising their 3 children, instilling a strong Christian faith in each of them. Sally ran the McVay household, always leaving the door wide open to cook for and laugh with anyone who entered. She was simply a joy to be around. She had a passion for reading and was instrumental in starting her book club. Sally also enjoyed bridge and needlepoint and made Christmas brighter with her beautiful needlepoint ornaments and stockings. Despite Sally’s diagnosis of hereditary lung disease in the early 1980s, she seldom complained or let it define her. She was most grateful to her physician in Pittsburgh who enrolled her in the NIH pilot study for her disease in 1984. Sally stayed as active as possible, enjoying skiing, tennis and paddle tennis as a family and was most blessed to enjoy cycling trips with Bill for a number of years. Sally loved swimming and the beach and her family fondly remembers her dodging the seagulls on her brisk beach walks. She cherished her grandchildren and was each of their number one fans in every sporting event and milestone, never missing a beat. She hardly slowed down until the last week of her life. A celebration of Sally’s life will be held at Christ United Methodist Church, 44 Highland Road, Bethel Park on Thursday, December 22 at 11 AM. Arrangements entrusted to the John F. Slater Funeral Home Inc., 412-881-4100, 4201 Brownsville Road, Brentwood 15227. If desired, the family suggests donations to be made in her memory to: alpha1.org, JDRF, or Christ United Methodist Church.

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