HARDING AMELIA (STREIF) Formerly of Elma, NY and Jeannette, PA, of State College, departed on her next Great Adventure, at home, on November 21, 2014. Her last days were spent speaking and visiting with many of the people she knew and loved. Amelia was passionate about helping those who needed help and was a powerful advocate for people with mental illnesses. She was an avid traveler with a love of maps and sharing American culture with people from around the world. She was loved by hundreds of people of all ages. Amelia was born at home in Wales Center, New York on October 15, 1925, the oldest child of Robert H. Streif and Catherine H. Streif. Her only sibling, Robert F. Streif of Elma, NY and Ocoee, Florida, died in 1998. She graduated from Ebenezer High School in West Seneca, NY. She was a proud graduate of Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics. She retired from Pattee Library at the Pennsylvania State University after 15 years as a library assistant in the Maps Collection. As the Home Economics Editor for the Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo NY, she wrote a daily column known as "Ask Lucy Lincoln." Her varied career also included Treasurer of Electro Logic Fabricators, State College, PA, Publicity Coordinator for the Music Guild of Pittsburgh, PA, a Home Demonstration Agent with the Steuben County, NY and Atlantic County, NJ Extension Services, and a Home Services Representative for the Gas Company of Dunkirk, NY, where she wrote a column called "Menu Maneuvers" for the Dunkirk Evening Observer. She was also one of the first door-to-door Fuller Brush Women in the USA. Her advocacy for people with mental illness lasted more than 30 years. She served on the Board of Trustees of the Danville State Hospital for 24 years, with a special interest in the ethical treatment of patients, and the Board of Directors of Strawberry Fields, Inc. (a private nonprofit agency serving individuals with developmental disabilities and with mental illness in Centre County) for more than 20 years. She is survived by her three daughters: Cathy Harding of Olympia, WA, Penny Dorneman and her husband, Stephen, of Boston, MA, and Sarah Gillian Harding of State College; and one grandson, James R. Harding-Parry of State College. She was predeceased by her husband of 55 years, William Renny Harding, Jr., who died in 2010; her son, William R. Harding III who died in 1990; and two grandchildren, Jenna Marie Harding and Clifford Joseph Rodack. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given to Strawberry Fields, Inc., 3054 Enterprise Dr., State College, PA 16801. Visitors will be recieved from 4 until 6 p.m. on Thursday, December 11, 2014, at KOCH FUNERAL HOME, 2401 South Atherton Street, State College. Funeral Service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, December 12, 2014, at St. Alban's Anglican Church, 146 Pine Grove Road, Pine Grove Mills, with the Reverend Robert Tufton and the Right Rev. Council Nedd II, Ph.D., Bishop Ordinary, officiating. Reception to follow at the church. Interment Ceremony at 2:30 in Pine Hall Cemetery, for the remains of Amelia S. Harding, William R. Harding, Jr., and William R. Harding III. Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guestbook may be entered at: www.kochfuneralhome.com Send condolences post-gazette.com/gb
