There is a fine line between genius and insanity – Michael Moncur

Michael Graham Deckman, 73, formerly of Paradise, late of South Mountain Restoration Center near Gettysburg PA, passed away June 8 from pneumonia and Parkinson's disease at Chambersburg Hospital.

Mike graduated from Pequea Valley High School class of 1966. He then took a double major of biology and chemistry at Lock Haven State College. During the summer breaks he went to Bucknell to do an internship doing lab experiments on marine sponges; he was given a lab and told to do whatever he wanted. After graduating cum laude at Lock Haven in 1970 he started graduate work in pharmacology on a full scholarship at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. At the beginning of his second year, Mike had to leave UVA after being diagnosed with a severe case of paranoid schizophrenia. And thus started a 50 year odyssey that made every day more or less a living hell. But Mike never left his mental illness define him and he never gave up hope that he would eventually be able to return to his studies.

Mike was a member of First United Methodist Church, Duke and Walnut Sts, in Lancaster City.

Mike was born on February 6, 1948 at 2:00 am at LGH to Cecil H. Deckman Jr. and Ruby E. (Rice) Deckman. He never married and had no children. He is survived by a sister, Patricia, married to Patrick Donnelly of Denver, PA; and a brother Kevin, Paradise. He was predeceased by 2 siblings: Deborah in 1953 and Brian in 1991. He is also survived by one nephew Darryl R Hicks (Meredith Klinger) of Arlington, Virginia.

The family would like to thank the staff at South Mountain since 2018; and Wernersville State Hospital for the excellent care he received there for 20+ years. A kinder and more compassionate group of caregivers cannot be found on this Earth.

A graveside service will take place 11 AM Friday, June 25, 2021 at Conestoga Memorial Park, 95 Second Lock Road, Lancaster, PA 17603.