Whether it was helping a small business gain a foothold in the local economy or offering children a place to go after school, Donald Y. Clem's life revolved around channeling the fruits of his success to those he cared about.
"He had a desire to be on top of the pile," said his wife, Jean Clem. "(His rewards) were beyond the financial. It was the satisfaction of seeing others do well."
Mr. Clem, of Aleppo, died Friday, March 10, 2006, after a battle with Parkinson's disease. He was 79.
Born in Montgomery County in 1926, Mr. Clem was the sixth of seven boys. His father, Wesley A. Clem Sr., a purchasing agent for the Reading Railroad, was her husband's ethical role model, Jean Clem said.
"He learned through observation. Just listening to (Wesley Clem) talk, you just knew the right thing to do," she said.
Mr. Clem spent two years in the Navy in the Pacific Theater during World War II and then went on to receive his industrial engineering degree at Penn State University. He skipped his college graduation in 1949 to marry the former Jean Mook, whom he met on a neighbor's hayride.
Shortly after their marriage, Mr. Clem took a job as a manufacturer's representative for a steel foundry supply company in Berks County. He moved steadily upward in his career and moved to Pittsburgh in 1958.
He took a job with the steel foundry McConway and Torley Corp. and eventually became chairman of the company's board.
Before his retirement in 1984, Mr. Clem began investing in smaller businesses. He turned his interest into informal consulting and using his business acumen to assist dozens of small businesses, Jean Clem said. He offered his services to several charities, including the Manchester Youth Development Center.
"He rarely charged anyone for it. He was doing it for the love of it, not the money," his wife said.
The Rev. James J. Robinson, the Manchester Youth Development Center's founder, said he met Mr. Clem in the 1960s and appreciated his support of the after-school programs there.
"He told me, not long after we met, that his first memory of the center was all the children running from the Manchester school to the center," Robinson said. "They just flooded the place, and he wanted to keep that there for them."
He also was active with the former Suburban General Hospital in Bellevue, WQED and the Pittsburgh Presbytery.
Mr. Clem is survived by his wife of 56 years, Jean Clem; three sons, Steven Clem, of Boulder, Colo.; Jonathan Clem, of Fremont, Calif., and Andrew Clem, of Pittsburgh; seven grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Friday at The Presbyterian Church, Sewickley. There will be a reception afterward at the Edgeworth Club, 511 East Drive, Edgeworth.
The family requests memorials to the Manchester Youth Development Center, 1214 Liverpool St., Pittsburgh, PA 15233; or The Presbyterian Church, 414 Grant St., Sewickley, PA 15143.
