His beloved Borough of West Reading, all of Berks County, and many friends and family mourn the loss of a giant: Dean L. Rohrbach. Dean passed away suddenly on Sunday, October 7, following surgery in the Reading Hospital. He was 65, a son of the late Clinton E. Rohrbach and Estelle J. (Vecchio) Yeager.

Dean was instrumental in the revitalization and beautification of West Reading, as manager of the borough’s Elm Street program. His love for community was cultivated in his youth, growing up in a traditional Italian household in Wyomissing Hills known as THE home of the neighborhood, where everyone was welcome, and well-fed!

After graduating from Wyomissing Area High School, Dean earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, in City and Regional Planning. He honed his community revitalization skills first with Neighborhood Housing Services of Reading, then for the San Diego Neighborhood Housing Services for nine years, before moving back east to head-up the West Reading Community Revitalization Foundation for 10 years.

For the Borough’s Elm Street program, Dean was a voracious worker with incomparable vision, whose legacy will live on for years in the beautiful murals he helped commission all over West Reading, and the festivals and numerous Penn Avenue events which have transformed West Reading into a regional cultural mecca.

Dean truly lived life to the fullest, traveling from coast-to-coast, inventing the word “community” before it became a buzzword. He took great joy in revitalizing neighborhoods and the community’s lives through it. But Dean also possessed an incredible sense of humor and had an infectious, boisterous laugh. He was as quirky as he was caring.

Dean is survived by his longtime partner, Karla Rosenbusch, West Reading, and his sisters and brother: Lisa J. Liptock, wife of Steve, Shillington; Kimberly Shrom, wife of Kenneth, Mohrsville; Marla, Celina and Daniel Rohrbach, all of California. He will also be dearly missed by many nieces and nephews, who he cherished.

A celebration of Dean’s life will be held Saturday, October 13 at 1:00pm at Kuhn Funeral Home, 739 Penn Avenue, West Reading. Friends may call at the funeral home Friday evening from 5:00-7:00pm, and Saturday from 11:00am until the start of the service. Burial will be private.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Dean’s honor may be made to the West Reading Community Revitalization Foundation to support the mural corridor program, at: The Borough of West Reading, 500 Chestnut St., West Reading, PA 19611 or at mark@wrcrf.org.

Kuhn Funeral Home, Inc., is in charge of arrangements. For online condolences, visit www.kuhnfuneralhomes.com.