Rash's Surname Index
Notes for Paul F. PYLE
Paul F. Pyle, 79, who owned Willowdale Greenhouses for more than 60 years and through church groups helped steer the lives of thousands of youths, died Monday in the Calvert Manor Nursing Home, where he had been staying for a month. He lived in East Marlborough Township.
Mr. Pyle was born and raised in the Willowdale section of East Marlborough Township and was a 1927 graduate of Unionville High School. Except for living in West Grove for a short time, he was a resident of Willowdale most of his life.
After graduating from high school, he took over his father's greenhouse business on the family's property. For 60 years, Mr. Pyle tended to the family's five greenhouses, growing varieties of cut flowers that he sold to retailers in Wilmington and West Chester. He also shipped his flowers to the Washington and Baltimore areas.
The work was tedious and demanding and involved long hours, but Mr. Pyle loved it and rarely took vacations.
"You can never walk away from it, even for a short period," said his son, David P. Pyle. "It's something where you've always got to be there. It's a labor-intensive occupation."
Mr. Pyle operated Willowdale Greenhouses until he closed the business three years ago.
When he wasn't tending to his business, Mr. Pyle enjoyed working with youths in the area through church organizations. He was formerly a member of the Presbyterian Church of Kennett Square. He later became a founding member of the Willowdale Chapel, where he served in various leadership roles.
Mr. Pyle was involved in the earliest years of Christian Endeavor, a church-related outreach program for young people.
He was also the founder and director of the Southern Chester County Youth for Christ, an interdenominational ministry for high school students, which he headed for more than 30 years.
"He loved doing this immensely," David Pyle said. "There are literally thousands of kids all over the world whose lives make sense now. That was his life and where he made his biggest investment - people. There are people 50 years old now whose lives were determined on the decisions they made when they were 15. He always tried to be there for kids when they made those decisions."
Mr. Pyle was the widower of Josephine Rebecca Boyd Pyle, who died in 1978.
In addition to his son David, he is survived by two other sons, Joseph F. and James R.; two daughters, Mary Ann R. Robinson and Marjorie J. Ridgway; 19 grandchildren; a great-granddaughter; two brothers, and three sisters.
A funeral was to be held Friday in Willowdale Chapel. Burial was to be in Union Hill Cemetery.
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