Peter Debelak

I am sorry to inform everyone that Peter Debelak, who often posted here on this forum, has passed away.

Please keep his family in your prayers.

His obituary is here:
https://obits.cleveland.com/us/obitu...ry?id=34938213

[Ohio]

Cleveland newspaper article about Peter.

[Zezima]

What was his screen name? Would love to read his posts

[Ohio]

Originally Posted by Zezima

What was his screen name? Would love to read his posts

“Peter Debelak”

[Trapped]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am sorry to inform everyone that Peter Debelak, who often posted here on this forum, has passed away.

Please keep his family in your prayers.

His obituary is here:
https://obits.cleveland.com/us/obitu...ry?id=34938213

Unregistered, thank you for letting us know.

I only knew Peter through his online postings, but his sensitivity and thoughtfulness were present in everything he wrote. My heart goes out to the Debelak family and I grieve with them, along with many others grieving.

Debelak family facebook posts indicate his "death was the result of bipolar disease". To my knowledge, the disorder itself does not cause death, rather, suicide rates of those who have it are higher. I don't know Peter or his life, and I have no intention of conjecture, but I do know that trauma is at the root of many mental health disorders. And if trauma is not at the root of it, then trauma can exacerbate an existing underlying issue that may not have manifested as strongly otherwise.

I say that to say this - I have no doubt that the local churches, as one source of many different types of trauma for many children, are not innocent in this loss of life. As a church kid myself, I am starting to get angry.

Trapped

Peter was my brother. He was who I turned to as I struggled with my beliefs and the local church.
He most definitely suffered from unresolved trauma. He also battled bi-polar for over 2 decades. Unfortunately none of us knew it at the time, including my brother, for nearly a decade. Suicide, we believe, is a symptom of bi-polar. No one with a healthy mind would knowingly and willingly take their life. It goes against how we were made. Our very instinct is to protect ourselves at all cost. He had trauma. He also had bipolar.

I came onto the discussion board to see if news of his death had been shared. I am thankful that there have not been ignorant and insensitive comments regarding mental illness and suicide.

[Nell]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Peter was my brother. He was who I turned to as I struggled with my beliefs and the local church.
He most definitely suffered from unresolved trauma. He also battled bi-polar for over 2 decades. Unfortunately none of us knew it at the time, including my brother, for nearly a decade. Suicide, we believe, is a symptom of bi-polar. No one with a healthy mind would knowingly and willingly take their life. It goes against how we were made. Our very instinct is to protect ourselves at all cost. He had trauma. He also had bipolar.

I came onto the discussion board to see if news of his death had been shared. I am thankful that there have not been ignorant and insensitive comments regarding mental illness and suicide.

We are so sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing with us. We also pray that you are doing well.

We work hard to make this forum a safe place to share your thoughts. Please let us know if we can help…we’re always here to listen. If you want to register for an account, we can do that for you, too.

Nell and UntoHim
Admin/Moderators

Thanks Nell, I am registered although it’s been maybe 2 years since I have posted. If I decide to return to the boards I will use my username. Yesterday was a particularly hard grief day, for no real reason but the obvious reason, I lost my brother. And so I just came on in haste to see what was here. My family did record his memorial and is available if anyone would like to remember him. I just ask that you not share it yourself but encourage people to reach out to me specifically. It may seem trivial but I would like to be as intentional as possible in the sharing of it. I know my brother spent a lot of time on these boards years and years ago. He spoke about the conversations, fellowship, and connection with many of you.
So, please send an email to hbirchman@gmail.com with the following info
Subject: Peter
Let me know how you knew my brother.

***if you are a survivor of suicide and are in the need of resources, support, etc please also reach out.

We are also compiling stories of him to share for his 3 kids ages 14, 13, and 7 plus his 14 nieces and nephews. Stories can be sent to the same address.

Hannah Debelak Birchman

[Nell]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Thanks Nell, I am registered although it’s been maybe 2 years since I have posted. If I decide to return to the boards I will use my username. Yesterday was a particularly hard grief day, for no real reason but the obvious reason, I lost my brother. And so I just came on in haste to see what was here. My family did record his memorial and is available if anyone would like to remember him. I just ask that you not share it yourself but encourage people to reach out to me specifically. It may seem trivial but I would like to be as intentional as possible in the sharing of it. I know my brother spent a lot of time on these boards years and years ago. He spoke about the conversations, fellowship, and connection with many of you.
So, please send an email to hbirchman@gmail.com with the following info
Subject: Peter
Let me know how you knew my brother.

***if you are a survivor of suicide and are in the need of resources, support, etc please also reach out.

We are also compiling stories of him to share for his 3 kids ages 14, 13, and 7 plus his 14 nieces and nephews. Stories can be sent to the same address.

Hannah Debelak Birchman

Thanks Hannah. Sometimes, in my experience too, grief comes in ways I don't expect, and for no apparent reason. It just happens.

If you would like to review some of Peter's writings to include in your stories of him, go to Community (above)/Member List/Statistics/Find all Posts or Find all Threads started by...

Blessings to you and your family,

Nell

[UntoHim]

Hannah,
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your heartfelt feelings about your brother Peter. Although I didn't know Pete personally, I had the pleasure of getting to "know" him through his 300+ posts on our little forum. Peter had a very good heart, a sweet spirit, along with a very quick wit and natural wisdom, a very rare combination in such a young man! I second Nell's motion of sending you and your family our thoughts, prayers and condolences. Please let us know if there is anything we can do as admins and moderators to see that your brother is honored and remembered well on our little forum. May the God of all comfort comfort you and your family "For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too." (2 Cor 1:5)

~
Peter was one of the first registered members of LocalChurchDiscussions.
Here was his first post made 7/11/2008, just a few short months after our forum started:
~

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
~
And here is his last post made on 9/24/2019
~