CHARLES ARTHER

ARTHER
CHARLES THEODORE
Age 78, of Mt. Lebanon and Chautauqua Lake, NY, passed away suddenly on May 31, 2012 in Erie, following a courageous battle with pulmonary fibrosis. Ted, as known to family and friends, was born on November 28, 1933 in Akron, OH to the late Hortense Kramer Arther and John Robert Arther. He attended Fishburne Military Academy in Waynesboro, VA. Ted graduated from Allegheny College in 1955 with a degree in history. Following college, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. He was trained as a pilot on F-86 Sabre fighter jets. Ted began his career in 1958 with Jones and Laughlin Steel, working at their offices in Manhattan, San Francisco, and Buffalo, eventually transitioning from the sales to the service side of the steel industry. As an industry innovator and through his company, Furnco Construction, Inc., he consulted to steel production facilities on the repair and maintenance of blast furnaces and coke ovens from Pittsburgh to Luxembourg to New Delhi. He was a member of the American Iron and Steel Institute, the Duquesne Club, and St. Clair Country Club. His passions included the restoration of antique automobiles, his favorite projects being a 1929 Chrysler Landau Town Sedan and a 1941 Buick Roadmaster, WWII aviation history, and fishing! Ted learned his love of fishing as a boy with his father and older brother on Bob's Lake in Ontario, and thereafter continued his lifelong quest for the best catch with his son and a special group of buddies, casting in the waters from Neultin Lake in Manitoba to the Orinoco River in Venezuela. His family is comforted in their knowledge that he's now on the floatplane flying peacefully to his favorite fishing spot on Wolf Lake in Ontario. Ted is survived by the love of his life and wife of 55 years, Shirley Mertz Arther; a daughter, Elizabeth (Dan) Wilson of Sewickley, PA; and a son, Theodore (Tana) of Fort Collins, CO; four grandsons, Eric and Jacob Arther, and Henry and Charles Wilson; and a granddaughter, Grace Wilson; A devoted brother, John R. Arther, Jr. of Canton, OH; and a brother-in-law, who was a true brother, Charles E. Mertz, Jr. (Rachel) of Upper St. Clair, PA; as well as nieces and nephews. Ted was a loving, committed, and generous father, grandfather, and friend. Funeral arrangements by BEINHAUERS, 724-941-3211. Following a private memorial service, friends are welcome in the garden at Christ United Methodist Church, Highland Park Road, Bethel Park, on Sunday, June 3, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Chautauqua Lake Watershed Conservancy, 413 North Main St., Jamestown, NY 14701.
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