Patricia Kreimer and Ralph DeRoy Wedding
The Jewish Encyclopedia
of Western Pennsylvania
A project of the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Heinz History Center
Ralph Lionel and Patricia K. DeRoy were married on October 2, 1946. They had two children, Al (b.1948) and Diane (b.1953). The DeRoy family initially lived in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh and later moved to the suburban borough of Churchill, Pa.
The son of Al J. DeRoy and Edna Lyons DeRoy, Ralph L. DeRoy (1918-2000) was a fourth generation Pittsburgher and a member of one of the earliest Jewish families to settle in Pittsburgh. He graduated from Allderdice High School and the Babson Institute School of Business Administration in Wellesley Hill, Mass. and later returned to Pittsburgh to start a family and career. He met his future wife Patricia Iris Kreimer (1925-2006) while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II.
After completing his tour of duty, Ralph DeRoy joined his father Al J. DeRoy and brother Edwin DeRoy at Joseph DeRoy & Sons, a family jewelry business. During his time with the company, Ralph DeRoy oversaw the construction of a new and modernized store at 408 Smithfield Street in 1957 and became a certified gemologist. After Joseph DeRoy & Sons closed in 1963, Ralph switched careers, selling life insurance for Phoenix Mutual, before retiring in 1971. Ralph and Patricia DeRoy frequently traveled to jewelry conventions and were members of the 24 Carat Club, representing leading jewelers.
Ralph and Patricia DeRoy moved to Pompeo Beach, Fl. in 1973. They purchased a home in Boca Raton, Fl. in 1985. In 1994, they returned to Pittsburgh, where they spent the remainder of their lives.
The DeRoys were members of Rodef Shalom Congregation.
Al DeRoy attended Deer Creek Day Camp and Camp Lynnwood as a child in the 1940s and 1950s. He graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 1970 and received a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh in 1975 and an MPA from the University of Pittsburgh in 1983. He spent most of his career at the University of Pittsburgh. He married Shelley Levy in 1971 and Wendy Gertsen Rosenberg in 1988.
Diane DeRoy graduated from Churchill Area High School and Northwestern University, where she was active in the arts. She later worked as a sales representative for the Xerox Company in the 1970s. She married Harley Michelson of Illinois in 1981. The Michelsons lived in Illinois and had two children, Aaron and Rachel.
