Advocate for Allegheny County students
Sharilyn Lang joined the local PTA in the 1990s, when her daughter was in kindergarten — and she stayed for good.
Mrs. Lang, of Port Vue, devoted the next two decades to advocating for children in Allegheny County, advising local PTA leaders and bringing federal resources to the Monongahela Valley.
She died Wednesday at her home of complications from colon cancer and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. She was 64, one day shy of her and husband Duane Lang’s 44th wedding anniversary.
Whether organizing kindergarten teas for young parents or traveling to Harrisburg to testify before state lawmakers about childhood education, Mrs. Lang was known for her generosity, compassion and resolve. She was committed to the idea that teachers should be able to inspire all kinds of children, regardless of students’ socioeconomic background or intellectual ability, said Sandra Zelno, a friend and former Pennsylvania PTA president.
“She was always there locally. She may have become a state leader, but it was very important to her to make a difference in the local area,” Mrs. Zelno said. “Her caring leadership and maternal instincts brought people along.”
When the South Allegheny School District reorganized its system — combining local schools into one early childhood school and another elementary school — Mrs. Lang spearheaded the complex realignment of the regional PTA network.
Trish Woytovich of Liberty, a fellow member of the South Allegheny PTA, said that during Mrs. Lang’s years with the school district, their association saw record numbers members and an arrayof new activities.
As the president of the Mon Yough PTA Council, Mrs. Lang recruited and trained PTA leaders and helped bring federal programming to the area. A champion of the Reading is Fundamental program, which gives low-income children access to books of their own choice, she helped provide thousands of books to children with none.
A member of the Pennsylvania PTA board of managers, she provided assistance to over 110 associations across Allegheny County and coordinated the national PTA Reflections program, which recognizes student artistic achievement. Mrs. Lang was awarded both state and national life memberships in recognition of her decades of volunteer service.
Sharilyn E. Lang was born on February 9, 1953, in Manchester, England, to an American father and English mother, William and Eunice Woodworth. Within a year of Mrs. Lang’s birth, the family moved to McKeesport, where her father worked for U.S. Steel.
The oldest of six children, Mrs. Lang was like a second mother to her siblings, her sister Renae Woodworth Moore of Londell, Mo., said.
“She never left home without one of us. If she went on a date, a couple of us went with her,” Ms. Moore said.
Mrs. Lang met her husband when she was a senior at McKeesport High School. Duane Lang, a Liberty resident at the time, had already graduated from South Allegheny High School, but they attended her senior prom together. They married a few years later and moved to Port Vue. In 1987, their only child, Sharina Lang Kohlhoff of NorthVersailles, was born.
During her many years as an active PTA member, Mrs. Lang also worked as an office manager and notary for Hadad Motor Sales, off Route 30.
Mrs. Lang’s generosity was boundless.She never missed a birthday and sent over 150 Christmas cards every year, her sister said. She was famous for her wedding soup — the best in the Mon Valley, according to Mr. Lang — and would always have some in the freezer, ready to bring to any event. She sometimes would send plates of food over tothe women working the late shift at the local mini mart, especially on Thanksgiving, her daughter said.
Mrs. Lang was also a dedicated congregant of the Anglican Church of the Transfiguration in Elizabeth Township, where she regularly organized dinners and functions.
“The fabric of American life is what she was about — the Mon Valley, family schools, her church and her friends. Her nurturing instincts translated into a model of leadership that we could use more of today,” Mrs. Zelno said.
In addition to her husband, daughter and sister, Mrs. Lang is survived by two brothers, William Woodworth of McKeesport and Timothy Woodworth of St. Louis; and four grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Anglican Church of the Transfiguration.