Seabrook House Co-Founder Dies
Seabrook House co-founder, Margaret ‘Peg’ Diehl, age 89, died Saturday, November 26 surrounded by her family.
Peg was born on August 2, 1927 in Philadelphia to Mary and Cyril Nolan. She was one of six children and attended Holy Child Parochial School and Little Flower High School for Girls in Philadelphia. In 1950, she married Jerome J. Diehl (Jerry) and lived in Jenkintown, PA until 1961, when they moved to Ocean City, New Jersey with their children.
She is survived by four siblings, Richard, Robert, Mary and Ann, and four children. They are Richard (Christine), Edward (Matthew), Jerome (Deborah) and Robert (Heather). Peg leaves ten grandchildren, Matthew, Marisa, Jane, Christopher, Emily, Nolan, Cullen, Sarah, Elizabeth, Nicholas and one great grandson, Gabriel. She is pre-deceased by her husband, Jerry, her brother Jack and her beloved son, Jack.
Peg, along with her late husband, Jerome ‘Jerry’, founded Seabrook House in 1974, several years after they began their family’s healing process from Jerry’s alcoholism. Peg is recognized and best known professionally for her pioneering contributions to the concept that addiction is truly a “family disease”. She became one of New Jersey’s first certified and licensed addiction counselors.
Throughout her career, Peg was the recipient of many prestigious awards. They included the Denis Mansmann Memorial Award in 2003, the CRBard Outstanding Women in Treatment Award in 2007, the Alumna of the Year Award of Little Flower High School in 2007, and the Women Making a Difference Award in 2008. In 2012, Peg received the Community Leadership Award by the Caron Foundation and the Standish F. Hansell Award for Excellence in Addiction Treatment, presented by the Livengrin Foundation. In 2014, an award in her honor was established for a Seabrook House employee who best exemplifies service to families with addiction.
The Diehl family invites all who wish to join us for A Mass of Christian Burial Friday, December 2, 2016 at St. Augustine’s R. C. Church of St. Damien Parish, 13th Street at Wesley Avenue, Ocean City, NJ at 11 O’clock where friends may call from 10 o’clock until time of Mass. A luncheon and celebration of Peg’s amazing life at 12 noon at the Flanders Hotel, 11th and Boardwalk, Ocean City, NJ. Friends, Seabrook staff, colleagues and fellow members of Alcoholics Anonymous, Al-Anon and other 12 Step programs are so very welcome. A private, family burial will take place Saturday morning at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Cheltenham, PA. Memorial contributions can be made to the Seabrook House Foundation’s Matrix Family Program.
Www.godfreyfuneralhome.com.
