Naomi Eleanor Gorman Mewhirter

Naomi Eleanor Gorman Mewhirter passed away on Monday, August 17, at peace in her faith and comforted by family and caregivers in Stuart, Florida.

Throughout her 101 years, she was a trailblazer, and those who knew her best understood that she lived each day by her own code. It was one grounded in her faith and devotion to caring for others, especially when they needed it most.

Naomi was the first child of Charles and Mae Gorman. She had three siblings, two of whom preceded her in death: brother Gene and sister JoAnne Coatsworth. Her brother John D. Gorman resides in Prague with his wife, Dagmar.

Born in 1924, Naomi spent her childhood in several Pennsylvania communities, including Daisytown, Smock and California. She graduated from California High School in 1942. From there, her nursing training and enlistment in the United States Navy took her to Portsmouth, Virginia, San Francisco and Hawaii.

By the early 1950s, she had risen to the rank of lieutenant. She oversaw medical care on nearly 100 harrowing rescue flights carrying wounded soldiers from the front lines of the Korean War to the U.S. Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, Japan.

As the war came to an end, she returned to the East Coast and earned another degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She went on to earn two master’s degrees during a lifetime of learning in areas related to health care.

Naomi continued her life of service as a charge nurse in the Emergency Department at Presbyterian Hospital through the 1960s and into the 1970s before transitioning to her next chapter, that of a nursing educator. She held several teaching and leadership positions at colleges and universities in western and central Pennsylvania, including Duquesne University, Carlow College and Penn State University. In addition to her nursing and teaching responsibilities, she focused her attention on helping families navigate the painful process of losing a loved one to a lengthy illness.

In 1960, she married Robert “Bob” Mewhirter in a small service in Pittsburgh attended by close family. Bob preceded her in death in 2003.

The couple had two children: Robert, who married Kathleen and raised their son, Ian, in San Diego; and Richard, who is raising his son, Quinn, in Vermont.

Her caring and love for her two sons were an extension of her lifetime of care for others. She taught “her boys” the values of independence and self-reliance.

Throughout it all, Beulah Presbyterian Church, near the family’s Penn Hills home, was her sanctuary. In addition to weekly attendance, she organized numerous volunteer efforts, including one in the mid-1970's to help feed and shelter Vietnamese refugee children and their families.

In the 1990s, Naomi and Bob transitioned to living in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Even into her late 90s, she could regularly be seen taking her mile-long walks each morning through her Port St. Lucie community.

Today, she is walking with the Lord.