Donald W. Sarviss

NORTHUMBERLAND - Donald W. Sarviss, 77, of 610 Fifth St., passed away Tuesday morning, June 17, 2008, in Sunbury Community Hospital.
He was born Oct. 18, 1930, in Northumberland, a son of the late Wilbur and Margaret (Blank) Sarviss. He was married for more than 40 years to the former Gladys K. Mull, who survives.
He attended Northumberland schools.
Donald served in the Korean War from 1950 to 1951 with the 72nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, as a reconnaissance scout platoon leader and was wounded numerous times before being honorably discharged. He was the recipient of five Bronze Stars with V for Valor with five Battle Stars, four Purple Hearts, three Awards of the Combat Infantryman's Badge, three Presidential Unit Citations, two Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citations, one Meritorious Service Award, one United Nations Service Medal, one Korean War Service Medal and one U.S. Army Commendation Medal.
He formerly was employed by the McDonnell Aircraft Co., working on Project Mercury with NASA as a lead mechanic. He returned to Northumberland and was employed for 31 years by the Celotex Co. in Sunbury.
Donald enjoyed gardening and woodworking.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by one son, John Sarviss of Leona Valley, Calif.; two daughters and sons-in-law, Donna and Bob English of Arvada, Colo., and Sue and Stan Reams of Santa Fe, Texas; one stepdaughter, Mary Ann Rockwell of Northumberland; three grandchildren; one great-grandchild; three stepgrandchildren; two stepgreat-grandchildren; and one brother and sister-in-law, Robert and Edith Sarviss of Addison, N.Y.
He was preceded in death by one brother, Wilbur.
A memorial service will be held at a date to be announced.
Funeral arrangements are by the Jerre Wirt Blank Funeral Home, 309 Water St., Northumberland.
This obituary was originally published in The Daily Item.