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Obituary: Thomas B. Meade / Retired University of Pittsburgh professor also served on Clairton City Council
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Thomas Meade was born and raised in Clairton. And he devoted his life to making it a better place.
Mr. Meade, a retired professor at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Education, died Wednesday at Jefferson Regional Medical Center. He was 72.
Mr. Meade served two terms on Clairton City Council, from 1997 to 2005. He was appointed deputy mayor and unsuccessfully ran for mayor.
"He loved this town," said George Adamson, who served with him on the city council. "He tried to hope for it and make it better."
A native of Clairton, Mr. Meade graduated from what was then the Cal State Teacher's College with an education degree. He went on to earn his master's in psychology and counseling and his Ph.D. in psychology. At Pitt, he taught in the Department of Psychology in Education and later taught at Community College of Allegheny County.
His expertise in counseling served him well on the Clairton City Council, said Mr. Adamson.
"He would always be a listening ear," he said. "People would come to him with a problem -- not just a political problem, but a work problem, or a medical problem -- and he could resolve a lot of things by getting the person to figure it out for themselves."
At times, he was able to integrate his work as a professor with the community needs in Clairton, said his cousin, Lamont Lewis, bringing his students into the city to work with families and school children.
A life member of the NAACP and a volunteer for the Clairton Emergency Food Center, Mr. Meade was also deeply committed to education.
"He would talk to his family about education, goals, college," said Mr. Lewis, of Clairton. "He was a sincere person -- he believed in helping his community, his family."
Mr. Meade enjoyed traveling, said Mr. Lewis, both domestically and overseas, taking several trips to Africa.
He is survived by two daughters, Tammy and Melanie Meade, of Clairton; a son, Thomas Meade Jr., of Oxen Hill, Md.; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Arrangements by the Robert A. Waters Funeral Home, Clairton.
First Published February 10, 2013 12:00 am
