John H. Kilwein, Ph.D.

John H. Kilwein, Ph.D.

Age 83, passed away on Monday, March 18, 2019. Son of the late Hans and Victoria Kilwein. Brother of Bernard (Marilyn). Husband of Beatriz Guevara Kilwein. Father of John C. (Kris), Mauricio (Janet), and Mark (Pam). Grandfather of Sarah, Ian, Diego, Marcus, Nick, Andrés, Zach, Max, and Miranda. In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to the Alzheimer’s Association. Visitation will take place at Paul L. Henney Funeral Home at 5570 Library Road, Bethel Park, on Friday, March 22 from 1-3p and 5-7p with a celebration of his life at 7p. The burial will be private.

John Henry Kilwein was born in Magee Women’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA in 1936 to immigrant parents Vittoria (Vicky) Fanti and Johann Baptist Kühlwein (Hans Kilwein). Although he experienced challenges in his childhood (a year’s bedrest because of rheumatic heart), he also enjoyed great happiness playing with his many cousins, friends, and his little brother, Bernard. He served almost a decade as an altar boy at St. Stephen’s parish in Hazelwood.

Early in 1959, John met his future bride, Beatriz Guevara Kröber, who had recently arrived from Bogotá, Colombia. They married in the fall and became parents in 1960 with the arrival of their first son, John Charles. In January of 1961, the family moved to Belencito, Colombia, where two more boys, Mauricio and Mark, followed soon after. They returned to the United States by late 1963.

One of the greatest points of pride for John was his life in education. At the time of his death he was Emeritus Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Pharmacy. He earned a BS in Psychology (1958) from Pitt, his first master’s degree in Social Work (1967) at the University of Maryland-Baltimore, his second master’s degree in Public Health (1970) from Pitt, and in 1973 his doctorate from the School of Social Work, again from the University of Pittsburgh.

            That same year he was hired by Pitt’s School of Pharmacy to develop the social and behavioral component in the pharmacy curriculum. In 1980 he was selected by the students of the School of Pharmacy to be the recipient of the Hygeia Teacher of the Year Award. In addition to having authored more than one hundred publications, for many years he was the Commentary Series Editor for the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics (Wiley-Blackwell/Oxford, England). He retired in 2002 from Pitt with many happy memories of students and colleagues.

            He loved music, especially classical, opera, jazz, Neapolitan ballads, and Latin American boleros. He was an accomplished alto saxophonist, clarinetist, and later in life he played a mean tin whistle. He was an avid reader of literature (Chekhov, Ibsen, and Kafka) and included a number of literary readings in his courses. He spent many years in his vegetable garden, which for him was a special place to reflect. When his tomatoes, zucchini, and green beans came in, you could find him in the kitchen transformed into “chef du chef,” always ready to feed friends and family.

            He spent a quiet retirement with his loving wife in Bethel Park, surrounded by his family. His daughters-in-law were Kris (John), Janet (Mauricio), and Pam (Mark). His great joy was being with his grandchildren: Sarah, Ian, Diego, Marcus, Nick, Andrés, Zach, Max, and Miranda. He will also be missed by his sisters-in-law (Ana María and Marilyn), his brother-in-law (Juan Carlos), his niece and nephew (Cecile and Gordon), and his grandnephew (Veit).

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