Laura Rebecca Grabman, 100, of Passavant Retirement Community, Zelienople, passed away Thursday morning.

Born in McKeesport, April 8, 1911, she was the daughter of the late Henry and Mary Burr Grabman.

Laura moved to Zelienople as a small child. After graduating from Zelienople High School in 1928 as valedictorian of her class, she attended Clarion College and later earned an education degree from Geneva College, Beaver Falls. Laura promptly began her teaching career by accepting a position at the one-room Toll Gate School in Jackson Township during the Great Depression. Two years later, she accepted a position at the Orphan's Home and Farm School, now Glade Run Lutheran Services.

After 16 years of teaching at the home, she received her master's degree from Penn State University and took a job at a special education school in Harrisburg, where she was heralded as a pioneer in the field of special education. During her career in Harrisburg, she taught for 23 years, part of the time at a supervisory level. After 41 years as an educator, Laura retired in 1972.

In 1990, she returned to her hometown of Zelienople and moved into the Passavant Retirement Community, where she served as president of the Residents Association, volunteered in the gift shop and volunteered for the Seaman Chapel.

Not only did she volunteer at the retirement center, but she was a docent for the Zelienople Historical Society and was a well-respected speaker at local organizations. In 1995, Laura wrote a short history of the town and the Old People's Home, “Zelienople Pioneers,” and a history of her career at the Toll Gate School, which earned her the title of historian.

Laura was a life-long Lutheran, being a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Harrisburg and attending Seaman Chapel at the retirement community. During her lifetime, she visited over 70 countries, mainly to learn about the Lutheran churches abroad.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her four siblings, Grace Colgin, Philip Grabman, Henry Grabman and Paul Grabman.

She is survived by a half-sister, Virginia Lee Johnson; a sister-in-law, Mary Jean Grabman of North Carolina; and numerous nieces and nephews.

<B>GRABMAN</B> — Friends and relatives of Laura R. Grabman, who died Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012, will be received at the <B>A. Carl Kinsey-Ronald N. Volz Funeral Home</B>, 114 W. Spring St., Zelienople, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday with the Rev. Robert Keplinger officiating. Burial will be in Zelienople Cemetery.The family has suggested memorial donations be made to the Zelienople Historical Society, 243 S. Main St., Zelienople, PA 16063 or to Passavant Retirement Community, 401 S. Main St., Box 390, Zelienople, PA 16063.Additional information may be obtained at www.kinsey-volzfuneralhome.com.