Mark J. Turbedsky, 35, the Salisbury Township man who was critically injured in a 1976 diving accident, died Friday in his home at 1602 E. Emmaus Ave.

Turbedsky, a quadriplegic since the accident, had been program manager at the Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living for the past year. He had also worked for the Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital and the Department of Social Services while pursuing his master's degree in social work.

Turbedsky's rehabilitation and education was difficult, but he pursued his goals with steady determination. He received his master's degree from Marywood College in 1988, completing the work over four years of part-time courses at the school's branch at Cedar Crest College in Allentown. His bachelor's degree in psychology from Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales, awarded in 1983, was completed in six years.

Turbedsky was a 20-year old sophomore at Shippensburg University when he broke his neck diving into four feet of water in a neighbor's pool.

Born in Fountain Hill, he was a son of Paul J. and Elizabeth C. (Machain) Turbedsky.

He was a graduate of Salisbury High School, where he played trombone in the marching band for seven years. He was also a wrestler and baseball player.

He was a member of Holy Infancy Catholic Church, Bethlehem.

Survivors: Parents; maternal grandmother, Carmen Machain of Bethlehem; brother, Paul of Miami, Fla.; sisters, Michele at home, and Jamie, wife of Kenneth Breidenbach of Salisbury Township.