MaryEllen Spurgeon of Harleysville

MaryEllen Spurgeon (nee Dempsey), of Harleysville, PA, passed on January 3, 2018. She is survived by her sons Stephen (Sarah) and Greg; granddaughter Sierra Spurgeon; sisters Sheila Dempsey (Mike Buja), Moira Lichen (Jerry) and Kathleen Maryak (John); her brothers Jim, Terry, Tim, John (Zhi) and Dan (Sue), and numerous nieces and nephews.

MaryEllen was the oldest of 10 children and grew up in rural New York outside of Buffalo, NY. She moved to Philadelphia and became a computer programmer in 1956. She liked to tell people that she did not even know what a computer was when she was fortunate enough to be hired by GE to do programming for their Aerospace Division. She loved computers and especially loved developing programs. She was a programmer for 55 years, working for GE, RCA Computer Division, Sperry (later Unisys), Kulicke and Soffa, and Merck before she retired in 2011.

MaryEllen was especially close to her sisters, who she regarded as her closest family after her two sons.

Relatives and friends are invited to MaryEllen’s family visitation at Boyd-Horrox-Givnish of East Norriton, 200 W. Germantown Pike on Tuesday, January 9th, from 9-9:50 AM followed by her service at 10 AM. Interment will follow at Valley Forge Memorial Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to Covenant House, Times Square Station, P.O. Box 731, New York, NY 10108-0900.

To share a thought or memory of MaryEllen, please visit www.lifecelebration.com, 610277-7000.