Lechner

Marian G. Lechner, 94, formerly of First Street, Butler, died Tuesday evening at Sugar Creek Rest.

She was born in the St. Joe area of Donegal Township, Dec. 19, 1915, a daughter of John and Henrietta Graham Lechner. She was preceded in death by her brother, John H. Lechner Jr.

She graduated from Butler High School in 1933 and earned a liberal arts degree at Grove City College in 1937. Later, she attended the Columbia University, School of Library Science, and attained a master's degree in 1945.

Marian worked in Butler from 1938 through 1943 for the Pennsylvania Department of Public Assistance. From 1943 to 1950 she was the founding librarian of the Butler County Traveling Library and was the first driver of the Bookmobile, which was the first library service to more than 50 one-room schoolhouses in the county.

From 1950 to 1955, she was the medical librarian of the U.S. Naval Department's Aviation Medical Acceleration Laboratory at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station, Pa. While there, she co-authored a research paper titled "Acceleration and Human Performance" that became published in the Journal of Aviation Medicine.

Then from 1955 until her retirement in 1981, Marian was the corporate librarian for CIGNA, Connecticut General Life Insurance Co., in Hartford, Conn.

She returned to live in Butler the following year.

She was a member of St. Peter Roman Catholic Church in Butler and was active in the parish activities. She was a past president of the Women's Council, served as a lector, was a former member of the Parish Council and was one of the first women to be a Minister of the Eucharist at St. Peter's. She also was a past president of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women of the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Additionally, she was a past president of the Friends of the Library in Butler and the Butler County Historical Society. For many years, she served as secretary of the Butler Womens Club.

Marian will fondly be remembered as an independent and caring woman, known for her quick wit and sense of humor by the number of cousins that survive her.

<B>LECHNER </B>— Family and friends of Marian G. Lechner, who died Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2010, are invited to attend a Mass of Christian burial at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Peter Roman Catholic Church, 127 Franklin St., Butler. Her pastor, the Rev. James W. Dolan, will officiate. Following cremation, inurnment will later take place at St. Peter Cemetery. There will not be a visitation.In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Butler Area Public Library, 218 N. McKean St., Butler, PA 16001.Arrangements were entrusted to <B>Geibel Funeral Home</B>, Butler, and information also is available at www.geibelfuneralhome.com.