Mark W. Kuehnle

Mark W. Kuehnle, 69, died Saturday, June 1, 2024, after a valiant battle with cancer.  
He and his wife Judy were living in North Myrtle Beach, having relocated there in October 2020 for their retirement.  Until then, the couple had spent their lives on Pittsburgh's North Side then in West Deer since 1990 where they had owned a home in the Fawn Haven neighborhood.  
Born March 12, 1955, in Pittsburgh, Mark was a son of the late Harry James and Virginia Bell Johnson Kuehnle.
He married his wife, the former Judy Blakeley, a fellow North Sider, on July 15, 1972.  Theirs was a romance kindled as 16-year-olds at a neighborhood gas station where Mark was working.  Judy and a girlfriend had decided to stop by that gas station one day in lieu of attending a seventh-period typing class.  And what started as an afternoon lark ended in a long and happy marriage that produced two daughters and five grandchildren.
Mark was one of those men who was able to turn his avocation into his vocation.  A mere teen, he took that first job at a local gas station so as to turn his passion for cars into a money-making venture.  He worked in several garages throughout his young adulthood and that experience prepared him for his own business:  Mark's Truck and Auto Care in the Strip District, an enterprise that lasted three decades.
He was known as an honest businessman; a mechanic who would treat his customers' vehicles as if they were the vehicles of his own family members.  First-time customers became lifelong customers, oftentimes as did their kids.
His work day didn't end at 5.  Evenings and weekends involved fixing up cars.  His wife and daughters always had a set of wheels to tool around in--until he'd let them know that the fixed or refurbished vehicle had been sold.  No worries, though; another was waiting in the wings.
Mark's talents didn't end with cars.  He was proficient with home repairs and improvements.  He never hired out work.  In his free time, Mark and Judy enjoyed camping--an activity they shared with their family.  They slept in tents and washed in creeks when they were just starting out.  Then they graduated to pop-up campers.  Eventually, they owned a fully-equipped travel trailer with a rented spot first at Wolf's Camping Resort in Knox, Clarion County, then at Jeffco Lakes in Andover, Ohio.
Having started his own family as a teen, "Pap," as he was known, was in his prime when the grandchildren came along.  His role in their lives was beyond that of a typical granddad.  He was a helpmate to sons-in-laws, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them as a kind of secondary dad.
Mark was preceded in death by his parents and his mother-in-law, Barbara Blakeley.  In addition to his wife, Judy,  he is survived by two daughters and their husbands, Amy (Dan) Duddy of West Deer and Shelley ( Chris) Bozogan of Ross; and five grandchildren, Daniel (Cassy) Duddy of West Deer, Austin Duddy of West Deer, Lily Duddy of West Deer, Colton Bozogan of Ross and Carley Bozogan of Ross; a sister-in-law, Victoria "Vickie" (the late Paul) Jamison; and a brother-in-law Ralph (Christine) Blakeley; and several nieces and nephews.