William Thomas DeHaven, Jr.

William Thomas “Bill” DeHaven, Jr.—a veteran and police officer, loving father and doting grandfather, self-described teenage village hoodlum and total and complete smartass—joined his beloved wife, Patricia, in heaven on Sunday, December 15, 2024. He died of a heart attack at Paoli Hospital after a prolonged illness. He was 81.

Bill was born in Bryn Mawr but spent most of his life in Berwyn. He attended grade school at St. Monica School, where he was an alter server. He met and married his high school sweetheart in Berwyn, and they raised their four children there. He spent roughly three decades as a Tredyffrin police officer, then served two terms as a Township Supervisor. And he and Pat were the driving force of the effort to build the Berwyn Veterans Memorial at the Berwyn Train Station and in Wilson Farm Park.

Beyond his service to his community, Bill was perhaps best known for his sarcasm and quick wit. When his eldest son, at 6-2, grew taller than him, Bill said, “You may be bigger, you may be smarter, but you’ll never be tougher.”

When he gave away his daughter, Judy, at her wedding, he told his future son-in-law, “She’s your problem now.”

Even at the end, when he was at Paoli Hospital, he asked a nurse who was trying to insert an IV into his arm, “Did you forget to sharpen that needle?”

Bill was born on February 15, 1943, to Dorothy (Statts) DeHaven and the original William Thomas DeHaven. He was the eldest of their three children. His parents and siblings, Robert “Bobby” DeHaven and Christine “Tina” DeHaven Dusewicz, all preceded him in death.

The DeHaven family moved to Berwyn when Bill was in the fourth grade, when he met the woman that would become his wife. They were opposites. Pat was a top student; Bill was not. Pat was quiet and sweet; Bill was a rambunctious troublemaker. So when Pat called him up and asked him to a dance when they were 10th graders at Bishop Shanahan, he was in disbelief.

“My mother was very happy,” Bill recalled. “And my father laughed and said, ‘What would she want with you?’”

Bill worked at the Berwyn Acme through high school. He joined the Army before he could be drafted to serve in the Vietnam War, and he was sent to West Point, where he became an MP. The night before he left for West Point, he commemorated the moment by riding his motorcycle—a 1961 Triumph—through the Acme.

“I was the village hoodlum,” he often said.

Later, Bill sold his Triumph to buy an engagement ring for Pat. They married in 1966.

After his time in the Army, Bill joined the Tredyffrin Police Department. He was a mentor to younger cops and became a critical incident stress counselor. He preferred the term “peace officer” to “police officer,” saying he joined the force to help keep the peace.

Bill and Pat raised their children in a loving, warm environment, and he always made sure his children had opportunities he did not. Not only did he send his four kids to college, but he also supported his wife when she pursued her master’s degree and career as a biochemist. He was a true champion of women. And above all, he taught his kids how to connect and care for others.

Pat’s death in 2010 left Bill heartbroken. But he found love a second time when he reconnected with Balbina Potter, who attended Bishop Shanahan with Bill and Pat in the 1960s.

Bill was a stubborn as they come, which exasperated his family at times but became a true asset as he got older. He battled Hirschsprung’s disease, two forms of cancer, crippling arthritis, and that broken heart.

He also had a soft side. After his hair turned gray, he grew out his beard each winter so he could pass as an authentic Santa, entertaining children throughout the local area.

He loved Guinness, pot roast, and Pat’s apple pies—although not necessarily in that order. He was also a great marksman and great outdoorsmen. He took his nephews hunting. He taught his children to fish. And he enjoyed long walks in the woods.

Bill is survived by his sons: Bill (wife Elizabeth) of Riverside, CT, Mike (wife Kim) of Glen Mills, PA, and Tony of Berwyn, PA; his daughter Judy (husband Wayne) of Red Bank, NJ; his six grandsons: Jack, Will, Henry, Chris, Colin, and Regan; and his granddaughters, Lillian and Mae, and numerous nephews and nieces.

Relatives and friends are invited to celebrate Bill’s life on Thursday, December 19, 2024, at St. Monica Church, 635 Main Ave., Berwyn, PA 19312. Visitation will begin at 10am, followed by a funeral mass at 11am. The interment will be at St. Monica Cemetery, Berwyn, PA.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Crime Victims’ Center of Chester County (www.cvcofcc.org/donate) or the Bishop Shanahan High School’s Shanahan Fund www.shanahan.org/waystogive/shanahanfund, BSHS Shanahan Fund, 220 Woodbine Road, Downingtown, PA 19335).