McKees Rocks - Waiting until after midnight to make sure her election vote counted, feisty, outspoken McKees Rocks Councilwoman Liz Delgado, who made her home in the Rocks only five years ago, passed away at home in the wee hours of Nov. 3, following a courageous battle with end-stage kidney failure and other maladies brought on by a scooter accident.

During her childhood, in Pleasant Hills (Pittsburgh) her love of the arts was nurtured. Then known as Betsy, her love of theatre blossomed. When her father, The Rev. Robert H. Delgado, became an Episcopal priest, the family moved to New Brighton and Beaver Falls where she was involved with the Regent Theatre. At Beaver Falls High School, she was an honor roll student and one of the first Tigerettes.

With a double major in theatre, performance and technical, she graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. She began her multiple careers first, in the arts working in costuming with The Pittsburgh Ballet and doll design, then with early computers (word processors) at Kaufmann's Department Store before setting out for California in a Karmann Ghia, where she lived for 30 years.

During her time there, she had multiple careers; as night manager of the biggest Denny's restaurant in the U.S., counselor and supervisor in a drug-rehab facility for delinquent teen-aged girls and as a property officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. While attending Loyola Marymount Law School, carrying a full course load, she worked full time as a law clerk for the Los Angeles District Attorney's office in the Organized Crime and Anti-Terrorist Division, researching "hopeless cases" which were then won on the strength of her research and arguments. She graduated cum laude, fifth in her class of 386, winning many honors and awards, including Best Brief in Scott Moot Court, and was elected to St. Thomas Moore Law Jesuit Honor Society and Alpha Sigma Nu Honor Society. Her law review research article on "PTSD and Vietnam Veterans" became one of the top referenced works in the field.

She moved to Washington D.C. to work as a trial attorney in the honors program with the U. S. Department of Justice-Civil Rights Division, but decided to return to California because "they wouldn't let me do anything!"

Working as a Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney, among the cases she prosecuted was a high profile case of two police officers in murder for hire in "People vs. Ford & Von Villas." Another case of large-scale racketeering led to her fascination with computers and developing the "Smoking Gun" database (pre-Google) that enabled law enforcement to link and track hundreds of participants of fraudulent repair shops, doctors and "victims." She became the top authority on auto insurance fraud for the state of California. Her success led her alma mater (Loyola) to hire her as an adjunct professor where she taught for nine years.

Leaving the law profession to take care of her father who was battling Alzheimer's, she recruited two colleagues to open "Lizeric" as a computer website design and software developer company. She mastered both 4D (a computer language developed in France) as well as nine other computer languages including Drupal, and served as an organizer, consultant and lecturer at multiple conferences and conventions, both in California and in Pittsburgh.

The death of her foster sister, Roberta (Bobbie) Hazen Atkinson, brought her back to Pittsburgh, where she drove her realtor nuts with the "Goldilocks syndrome." Her first home in Crafton Heights ended up being "too big," the second in Kennedy was "too small," but then she finally found her "just right" home in McKees Rocks.

She recognized the potential of McKees Rocks, being close to Pittsburgh, but not yet "discovered." In 2017 when she was asked to fill an unexpired term on the borough's council, she accepted gladly. She had a passion for public service. When items were presented, she wanted due diligence and would investigate before voting, often dissenting if she did not think it was good for "The Rocks." She campaigned and won her seat handily in the next election. While many thought she was a "big city girl from California," her roots in Pittsburgh and Beaver Falls helped her understand local politics.

Her home had a wilderness backyard, which was visited by many local animals, including feral cats. Being a cat lover, she became involved in the TNR programs (Trap, Neuter, and Release) often catching local cats, getting them to the vet for treatment and neutering. She delighted that they kept down the rodent population. She suggested that people support TNR programs instead of sending flowers following her death.

Joining council in hopes of spurring on progress in her adopted community, Liz soon found her forward-thinking approach to local government wasn't appreciated by some of her colleagues who took pride in their status as lifelong Roxians. Undeterred, Liz spoke out whenever she felt her peers were siding against the path of progress. She infamously opposed a zoning ruling permitting the erection of a 100-foot tall gas station sign above a historic portion of the town and called out council's heavy-handed approach to handling tax disputes with the newly-opened Roxian Theatre. Positioned last among the roll-call, Liz often registered a futile "yes" or "no" vote when the votes were already fixed "just to settle the record."

Liz was preceded in death by her parents, the Rev. Robert H. Delgado (from whom she inherited her skills with design and execution) and her mother, Jeanne Marie Doyle Delgado (from whom she inherited her love of words and language) and her "adopted sister" Roberta (Bobbie) Hazen Atkinson. She is survived by her sister, Susan Delgado-Park, brother-in-law, The Very Rev. Canon John H. Park, of Ambridge; her nephew and godson, Robert, and his wife Rachel of Verona; nephew James and his fiancé Sarah of Anaheim, Calif; brother-in-law, Dennis Atkinson of Brighton Heights and godsons Michael Atkinson (wife Eowyn) of New York and John Bruner of Beaver Falls, many cousins and "cousinlings" scattered around the U.S., and many dear friends and her beloved cats.

A life-long Anglican, Liz was active in Episcopal/Anglican churches where ever she lived, serving in many leadership roles, as Senior Warden of the Vestry (head of Council) in California and also in choirs. Most recently she attended Church of the Incarnation in the Strip District. She was a member of Daughters of the King, a society devoted to prayer and service.

"I may be one, but I am one. I may not be able to do much, but what I can, I will do."

Those wishing to give funds in Liz's memory can donate to Cat Ears Revolution, 3639 Allendale Circle, Pittsburgh, PA 15204.

Obituary paid for by the Delgado-Park family.