Theo: I Remember Him for That

Theo van de Venne passed on Monday, July 21, 2025. He and his wife Pia have been more than just longtime residents of Murrysville. They both have been model contributors to the community in so many ways. They have generously donated land for conservation and community use. They have been protectors of our parks and spokespeople for them. Pia writes a column in this newspaper about the parks and what is in them, and what should not be in them. Theo did expert nature photos.

Theo served on Council. He was one of the founders of the Murrysville Area Soccer Association, bringing the game from his Netherlands birth home to America with others who emigrated from Western Europe. He was a soccer referee. He was an active member of the public Library world, an important contributing figure in so many ways, including as Board Trustee/Director. I remember him for all that

Theo was Trustee on the Murrysville Community Library (MCL) Board from 2011 to 2021. He was Director on the MCL Foundation Board from 2011 until declining health forced his resignation in 2023. He served as Foundation Board Treasurer and Chair of its Finance Committee from 2012 to 2022, and he was no passive leader in that role. There was too much going on for that, largely in building endowment, in ways not done before, and expansion/construction of the Children’s Room. He led the Board in optimizing investment returns on the endowment portfolio, growth of which was at the time just beginning to become a major focus.

The two were linked, endowment-building and expansion/reconstruction of the Children’s Room, with all the fundraising and management of income and expenses that that required. No one could have done the job with more commitment or better than Theo. I remember him for that, too.

As the Children’s Room project blossomed from dream to actuality, it was Theo, the professional engineer, the draftsman amongst us, who put schematic floor plans to paper. He made it possible for us to build the Children’s Room vision and modify it as we dreamed. He made it possible for us to better communicate to the architect. I remember him for that.

Fifty years in Murrysville have passed. Back then, who in the community knew what a striker was, or an own goal? Garth Clarke, John Wootten, and Theo van Venne knew. With their accented and precisely spoken English, they formed and administered the Murrysville Area Soccer Association, known familiarly now as M.A.S.A. They taught the game to kids and, equally important, parents who could not be, at first or even long afterward, but spectators. They, like me, did learn to be at least assistant coaches, maybe just to un-herd the little “bees,” aswarm as they chased the ball everywhere that it went, all at once.

Theo refereed, wearing his signature black shirt and black pants. A tall guy in black with a whistle on a cord around his neck. Running the field with those kids with a smile on his face, trying to teach, too, as he went after the little “bees,” and then to eventually see them learn to pass the ball and to play position as they aged up. I see the joy in his heart. That is what I remember most of Theo. I always will. It is an indelible picture.