Mom 'fought like a girl' with personality, spirit

Everyone noticed Debbie Walko's smile, even during her toughest times.

When doctors told her that the end was near last week after a four-year battle with breast cancer, Walko smiled and said, “That's OK, because I'm alive now.”

Debbie Marie Wehrle Walko of Plum died on Sunday, July 8, 2012, at home surrounded by her family. She was 45.

Debbie Walko stayed active her entire life, even hosting a birthday party for her son, Trevor, 9, less than two weeks ago.

“Her spirit was indomitable,” said her husband, Joe Walko.

Diane Davis of Savannah, Ga., Mrs. Walko's sister, said she did not let cancer keep her from being active in the community.

“She would come back from a treatment and still go to school to be with the boys and their activities,” Davis said.

Mrs. Walko was a homeroom mom, a CCD teacher and a football and baseball mom. She helped put together Adlai Stevenson Elementary's yearbook, making sure that each child was featured in a picture that he or she enjoyed.

Susan Doyle, who worked on the PTA with Mrs. Walko, said, “She was just a beautiful person and always happy, smiling, positive. Just a beautiful person, for sure. ... The kids loved her.”

Doyle added that Mrs. Walko filled in at the school when aides took time off.

Mrs. Walko's father, Tom Wehrle, said that when the family was at her bedside in the hospital, his daughter was unconcerned about herself, instead asking other people if they were comfortable.

“She used to have a sign on the back of her car that said ‘Fight like a girl,' ” Wehrle said. “And that's exactly what she did.”

“She may have had a really nice smile and magnetic personality, but you didn't tick her off,” her husband said. “She had no problem setting people straight, but she would castigate people in such a nice way that you had to come to her side.”

He recalled a time his wife was at a Subway restaurant with one of her children, a picky eater.

She kept making small changes to the order, and each time she did, the clerk would sigh.

The sandwich seemed finished when Debbie made one last change, her husband said, asking, “and can I get it without a sigh?”

“The clerk just had to smile,” he said.

Mrs. Walko earned a dual degree in psychology and business from the University of Pittsburgh in 1995.

She sold copiers for Danka, winning Salesperson of the Year once.

“It's that personality and smile,” Davis said. “If something went wrong, she could always make an impromptu joke about it, but her personality and skills won her this huge crystal trophy.”

In addition to her husband, Joe, sister, Diane, and son, Trevor, Mrs. Walko is survived by her other son, Jake, 12; her parents, Tom and Linda Wehrle of Apollo; and her brothers, David Wehrle and Dan Wehrle, both of Upper St. Clair.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Joy Church. Interment at Plum Creek Cemetery will follow.

Adam Wagner is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7956 or adamwagner@tribweb.com.