Sewickley's 'Spider-Man' laid to rest

Sewickley area residents and visitors are mourning the loss of their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

Elmer Cletus Borh, affectionately nicknamed after the Marvel superhero, died at Heritage Valley Sewickley hospital on Sept. 30. He was 68.

Born in Butler, he was the youngest of Cletus Harry and Janet Florence Bohr’s five children.

The family moved to Sharpsburg where the youngsters would grow up. Several of them attended Fox Chapel Area School District.

Borh’s sister, Clara Mullen, said her brother went to a gifted school due to his intellectual disabilities. Those issues also created emotional and social challenges.

However, Mullen said that did not stop Borh from resonating with positivity and cheer.

“He was always friendly,” said Mullen, who now lives in the Pittsburgh area. “Always had a smile on his face trying to please.”

Borh also overcame physical challenges. Mullen said her brother was born with polio and their mother used constant compresses to combat the disease.

“She never gave up on him,” Mullen said. “He had it really bad. He was very crippled. He could walk, but I wouldn’t run a race with him. As he got older, he had the capability of walking. They didn’t expect him to live, but he did.”

Spider-Man is arguably the most famous and commercially successful Marvel character.

Mullen said her brother idolized the character who, despite his enhanced abilities, struggles with the complexities of young adulthood.

Borh spent the bulk of his adult life in Sewickley.

He worked a variety of odd jobs and had a knack for turning strangers into friends — and even family.

“He seems to have stretched how people knew him a long distance, but he’s always known with a smile on his face and the people were very good to him in Sewickley,” Mullen said. “Anybody that ever talked to him walked away with a smile.”

A regular at the Sewickley Valley YMCA and at Divine Redeemer Parish’s St. James Church for 11 a.m. Sunday Mass, Borh created a reputation for wearing various Spider-Man apparel wherever he went.

He would also dress up as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in the borough’s Light Up Night and as Scooby-Doo at Sewickley Unleashed.

Moon Township resident Mike Berick, fellow parishioner and YMCA member, said Borh was an active member at the church and helped with its Lenten fish fry.

Berick believes Borh made the most of what he had in life.

“I just think that Elmer, despite his many challenges that he really dealt with and the hand he was dealt in life, it was how well he played it,” Bercik said. “He succeeded in many ways that I don’t think other people in his situation could.

“He became kind of an institution in the town.”

The community really came together for him when tragedy and lightning struck.

In June 2014, lightning struck the Sewickley United Methodist Church tower and traveled to the Howard Hanna building at 401 Broad St.

Bohr and two other people who lived in units above the real estate office were displaced. The two others moved in with relatives.

But the community came together in the days and weeks that followed to raise funds and help find Bohr a new place to live.

The fundraiser was organized by Tiffany Drey, a friend and co-worker of Bohr’s at Yankello’s Video & Audio on Beaver Street.

After temporarily living with a family Bohr knew from St. James Catholic Church, he moved into his own apartment near Beaver and Little streets.

“It says a lot about Sewickley as a community to go out of their way and sacrifice for someone,” Berick said.

The YMCA recently hosted a memorial birthday party for Borh.

“Elmer was a longtime member of our Y and friends with so many people here,” said chief executive officer Trish Hooper. “When he wasn’t working out, Elmer would have lunch and visit in the lobby with staff and members, often looking for just the right opportunity to ‘web’ us with his Spider-Man web.

”The Y was part of Elmer’s routine within Sewickley. He would come here most days and then make his rounds to the Village to stop at the Ultimate Pastry, Starbucks, the library and many other places.

“While everyone may not have known Elmer’s name, it seemed like the whole town befriended him and watched out for him. It’s a testament to the sense of community within Sewickley.”

Mullen said Bohr spent his final years in Coraopolis battling health issues, including heart and kidney problems.

A blessing service took place in early October at the R.D. Copeland Funeral Home.