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Tracey Jo
Schlicht, 53, died July 2 at Good Samaritan Hospice, Cabot, after a
two-year battle against advanced ovarian cancer. Born in Butler on
Dec. 29, 1954, she was the daughter of Wilbur and Margaret "Peg"
Morris Dumbaugh of Renfrew.
She was a 1973
graduate of Butler High School and a 1980 graduate of Mercy Hospital
School of Nursing, Pittsburgh. Before deciding to become a nurse,
she attended the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music on a
voice scholarship and later transferred to Carnegie-Mellon
University, where she auditioned successfully for the drama
department.
A talented
musician, she studied voice as a teenager with the late Lorenzo
Malfatti of Pittsburgh and flute with Virginia Netchi of Gibsonia.
While still in high school she sang with the Shadyside Presbyterian
Church choir of Pittsburgh and played flute with the Butler County
Symphony. She also was vocal soloist at the First Church of Christ
Scientist in Butler.
Tracey spent her
high school summer vacations at Chautauqua Institution in
Chautauqua, NY, where she auditioned for and won scholarships in
flute and voice. She spent a third summer following high school
graduation at the New York center studying with the Cleveland
Playhouse.
But she decided
against a career in the arts and chose to become a nurse. It was a
decision she never regretted. Her career began as charge nurse in
the acute agitated psychiatric unit at the former St. Francis
Hospital in Pittsburgh. Psychiatric nursing was her favorite
assignment. She also worked at St. John's Lutheran Care Center in
Mars, where she was head nurse in the skilled care unit, the
Veteran's Administration Center in Butler, and Hillcrest Nursing
Center in Grove City. She was working at Evergreen Nursing Home in
Harmony, PA when she was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer in
August 2006.
A woman of
compassion with an incredible sense of humor that surfaced even
during the most difficult days of her illness, Tracey's life
centered on her family, her home, her patients, and a variety of
pets, ranging over the years from guinea pigs to stray cats and a
chocolate lab. From childhood she loved every living creature. In
one of her last acts at Good Samaritan, Tracey was bundled into a
wheelchair and taken to the garden courtyard where she could feed
the koi in the fishpond.
She was a member
of St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Butler. Her daughters described
her as "quietly Christian" with a deep faith. An avid NASCAR fan,
she enjoyed watching Sunday afternoon races. Her favorite driver was
Tony Stewart.
She is survived
by her husband, C. Andrew "Andy" Schlicht, whom she married June 20,
1981; two daughters, Audrey Jo Schlicht of Pittsburgh and Kerry Beth
Schlicht of Butler; her parents; a sister, Kerry Dumbaugh of
Springfield, VA; her in-laws, Charles and Jeanne Schlicht of Butler;
a brother-in-law, Peter Schlicht and his wife Anne of Sewickley; a
sister, Dr. Lisa McPeak and her husband Bart of Seattle, WA; two
nieces, Celena and Chloe McPeak; and numerous cousins, aunts, and
uncles.
Visitation will
be on Saturday July 5 from 7- 9 p.m. and on Sunday July 6 from 2-4
p.m. and from 7-9 p.m. at Thompson-Miller Funeral home, 124 E. North
St. Services will be at St. Peter's Episcopal Church at 218 E.
Jefferson Street, Butler, PA, on Monday, July 7, at 10:00 a.m. with
the Reverend Bruce Geary officiating. Burial will be at Butler
County Memorial Park.
Memorial
donations may be made to Special Olympics of Butler County, 129
Highfield Road, Butler 16001 or the Make-a-Wish Foundation, The Gulf
Tower, 707 Grant Street, 37th floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15219-1916. |
A Life Remembered . . .