Last Chapter Archives - Pittsburgh Quarterly

Larry Walsh, 84Larry Walsh was a big man with a big heart and a booming voice and laugh, which rang out often. He was a consummate newspaper reporter, covering City Hall and the County Courts for The Pittsburgh Press, seeming to know everyone in town and eager to help young reporters. He was a 6-foot, …

Walsh, Harris, Mosley, DiSilvio, Wagner, Jonas, Unico, Agras Read More »

Obituaries People

Gumberg, Tobin, McGregor, Blumstein, Sheetz, Northrop, McDonough, Fenves, Davidson, Murphy, Patterson, Queenan

by PQ Staff

Ira Gumberg, 72With a Harvard Business School degree, he joined J.J. Gumberg Company, the real estate company his grandfather started, and as chairman, he helped grow the shopping center mall business. The company launched its retail property division in 1977 and built the first American-style mall in India, eventually expanding throughout the subcontinent. He was …

Gumberg, Tobin, McGregor, Blumstein, Sheetz, Northrop, McDonough, Fenves, Davidson, Murphy, Patterson, Queenan Read More »

Obituaries

Soffer, Greer, Reich, Skrinjar, Pitterich, Spatafore, Lubetz, Stancell-Condron Dodd, Bruschi, Pistella, Poppenberg, Poppenberg, Foy, Parsons, Muse, Christie, Aldridge, Rooney, Etzel, Dindak

by PQ Staff

Donald Soffer, 92Soffer was best known for turning 800 acres of swampland into Aventura, Florida, now home to luxury hotels and high-rises. The Duquesne native and his father co-founded one of Pittsburgh’s largest commercial real estate firms in the early 1960s, joining three other brokers in Don-Mark Realty, the predecessor to Oxford Development. The shopping …

Soffer, Greer, Reich, Skrinjar, Pitterich, Spatafore, Lubetz, Stancell-Condron Dodd, Bruschi, Pistella, Poppenberg, Poppenberg, Foy, Parsons, Muse, Christie, Aldridge, Rooney, Etzel, Dindak Read More »

Obituaries People

Springer, Thorbecke, Sagan, King, Miclot, Wolfley, Tansky, Wholey, Myers, Fagan, Tambellini, Kampmeinert, Hotopp, Truter

by PQ Staff

Cecile Springer, 94Armed with master’s degrees in chemistry and urban and regional planning, Springer was well prepared for a diverse life. A research chemist for Bristol Myers and Schering Pharmaceuticals, she joined Westinghouse Electric as manager of product development for the Advanced Energy Systems Division. From 1978 to 1989, she served as director of Contributions …

Springer, Thorbecke, Sagan, King, Miclot, Wolfley, Tansky, Wholey, Myers, Fagan, Tambellini, Kampmeinert, Hotopp, Truter Read More »

Obituaries People

Lange, Maher, Garber, Linaberger, Bowers, Burnett, Wettick, Effort, Gaines, Veale, Rayvid, Blank

by PQ Staff

Mike Lange, 76He spent 46 seasons as the play-by-play voice of the Pittsburgh Penguins, creating some of the most memorable sayings in the process. “It’s a hockey night in Pittsburgh!” he would announce during a career that chronicled Mario Lemieux, Sid Crosby and the history of the franchise in Pittsburgh. A Hockey Hall of Famer …

Lange, Maher, Garber, Linaberger, Bowers, Burnett, Wettick, Effort, Gaines, Veale, Rayvid, Blank Read More »

Obituaries People

Boudreau, Thompson, Aston, Bozzone, Hall, McNulty, Kalaris, Pais, Chahine, Johnson, Holzer

by PQ Staff

Robert Boudreau, 97In 1957 he conducted his first concert on the banks of the Allegheny in a former coal barge called the Point Counterpoint I. That was the beginning of the American Wind Symphony, which Boudreau founded and led as music director for the next 60 years. With the Point Counterpoint II, designed by Louis …

Boudreau, Thompson, Aston, Bozzone, Hall, McNulty, Kalaris, Pais, Chahine, Johnson, Holzer Read More »

Obituaries People

Anderson, O’Brien, Cohon, Roddey, Miller, O’Reilly, Johnson, Zockoll, Ostrowski, Wecht, D’Andrea, Szabo, Kopf Jr.

by PQ Staff

Barbara Anderson, 89Her career as an award-winning costume designer, professor and associate dean of Carnegie Mellon’s College of Fine Arts spanned more than 45 years. She worked on numerous theater, television and film productions and co-wrote the definitive textbook on costume design with her late husband, Cletus Anderson, whom she met while getting an MA …

Anderson, O’Brien, Cohon, Roddey, Miller, O’Reilly, Johnson, Zockoll, Ostrowski, Wecht, D’Andrea, Szabo, Kopf Jr. Read More »

Obituaries People

McGinnis, Bucci, LaDuke, Rescher, Simmons, Beck, Posvar, Reichblum, Donley, Rocco, Snyder, Rierson

by PQ Staff

Gerald “Jerry” McGinnis, 89A celebrated biomedical engineer, McGinnis turned a fledgling medical device company founded in his kitchen in 1976 into Respironics, a global empire that was later bought by Royal Phillips for $1.5 billion. He was the inventor of the first mass-produced breathing machine — a device now used worldwide for sleep apnea and …

McGinnis, Bucci, LaDuke, Rescher, Simmons, Beck, Posvar, Reichblum, Donley, Rocco, Snyder, Rierson Read More »

Obituaries People

Conway, Buford, Oshry, Morby, Moriarity, O’Reilly, Nutting, Ochester, Eberle, Courtney

by PQ Staff

Tom Conway, 71 International president of United Steelworkers since 2019, Conway was committed to making things in America and remained unwilling to accept that globalization was better. He tried to make changes in manufacturing that would lead to a cleaner environment and worker health and safety. A legendary negotiator who believed in the union ideal of “stronger …

Conway, Buford, Oshry, Morby, Moriarity, O’Reilly, Nutting, Ochester, Eberle, Courtney Read More »

People

Turner, Loevner, Fisher, Benedum, Wishart, Savran, Harrell

by PQ Staff

Tracey Turner, 60 Turner was artistic director of I Dream A World, taught at Point Park University and was the director of Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company’s Black and White Festival and various productions at the August Wilson Center for African American Culture. Turner was especially fond of Shakespeare, receiving praise for her portrayal of the traditionally …

Turner, Loevner, Fisher, Benedum, Wishart, Savran, Harrell Read More »

Obituaries

Machamer, Introcaso, Murphy, Botos, Lagattuta, Nelson, Frank

by PQ Staff

Peter Machamer, 80 A dedicated oenophile who penned a wine column for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for 14 years, Machamer was a professor and chair of the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Pitt for almost 40 years and the author of more than 100 publications and books. A Galileo Galilei and René Descartes scholar, …

Machamer, Introcaso, Murphy, Botos, Lagattuta, Nelson, Frank Read More »

Obituaries People

Miller, Dodds, Werner, Bartholomae, Barbour, Douglas, Klein

by PQ Staff

Wendi Ann Miller, 75 Born William Henry Miller III, Miller became a transgender woman and lifelong advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. An artist with a degree from CMU, her Miller Frame in East Liberty was frequented by clients such as Fred Rogers and Sidney Crosby. For a time, her shop also quietly housed the headquarters of the …

Miller, Dodds, Werner, Bartholomae, Barbour, Douglas, Klein Read More »

Obituaries People

Docherty, Johnson, Pappan, Lewis, Cost, Jamal, Groat

by PQ Staff

Debra Docherty, 63 Docherty was a former model who started Docherty Casting in 1987. It soon became a premier talent agency in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Among the actors she helped to discover were Zachary Quinto and Joe Manganiello. Docherty was known for her commitment to her clients, sometimes paying for expenses out of her own pocket and always encouraging …

Docherty, Johnson, Pappan, Lewis, Cost, Jamal, Groat Read More »

Obituaries People

Gailliot, Kuller, Dudreck, Charny, Calaboyias, Barricella, Harris

by PQ Staff

Henry Gailliot, 80 A Central Catholic valedictorian, Gailliot earned a BS and MS in industrial management, followed by a PhD in economics from Carnegie Mellon. He spent his career at Federated Investors, becoming the company’s senior economist and a member of the Executive Committee.. He served on the boards of the Children’s Museum and the Carnegie Museum of Art, …

Gailliot, Kuller, Dudreck, Charny, Calaboyias, Barricella, Harris Read More »

Obituaries People

Hardy, Cashman, Pearlstein, Thomas, Donahue, Berger

by PQ Staff

Joe Hardy, 100 He went out the way he lived, dying on his 100th birthday, still smoking his cigar. Everything Hardy did was marked by flamboyance and an enormous appetite for life. He had eight children and five wives. He founded the billion-dollar 84 Lumber, the world’s largest privately owned building materials supplier with stores in 34 states …

Hardy, Cashman, Pearlstein, Thomas, Donahue, Berger Read More »

Obituaries People

Arkus, Diana, Talotta, McCullough, DeLuca, Samet, Coraluppi, Baer, Shea, Rust, Kernick, Henne, Silvestre, Fennell, Celli

by PQ Staff

Jane Arkus, 93As an advertising executive, Arkus helped to create the iconic “chipped-chopped ham” ads for Islay’s. She joined Lando in 1951 as a copywriter and when the firm merged with Burson-Marsteller, she became its senior creative director. As a marketing consultant, Arkus worked to develop the Downtown Cultural District, WQED and the Urban League …

Arkus, Diana, Talotta, McCullough, DeLuca, Samet, Coraluppi, Baer, Shea, Rust, Kernick, Henne, Silvestre, Fennell, Celli Read More »

Obituaries People

Ferlo, Treganowan, Chaplin, Simpson, Poliziani, Fuhrer, Henderson, Lovelace, Grefenstette, Dunlap, Grata

by PQ Staff

Jim Ferlo, 70A former state senator, city council president and community advocate, Ferlo was an active supporter of causes that included attempting to save the landmark Syria Mosque. He was Pennsylvania’s first openly gay senator after coming out publicly during a 2014 debate about an LGBT hate crimes bill. Ferlo began his career as a …

Ferlo, Treganowan, Chaplin, Simpson, Poliziani, Fuhrer, Henderson, Lovelace, Grefenstette, Dunlap, Grata Read More »

Obituaries People

Lackner, Titus, Kessler

by PQ Staff

Judy Lackner, 98She was the senior school librarian for 22 years at Sewickley Academy, where her voracious reading habits and steel-trap memory caused her to serve as the “book whisperer.” A lifelong learner, Lackner went back to school when her children were grown to get a master’s in library science from Pitt. After graduating from …

Lackner, Titus, Kessler Read More »

Obituaries People

Ackerman, Johnson, Vidunas, Davis, Herchenroether, Deiseroth

by PQ Staff

Jeffrey Ackerman, 69A founding partner of CBRE, Ackerman was an icon in the region’s commercial real estate industry for decades and served as CBRE’s managing director in Pittsburgh from 2013 until January. He was working at Arnheim & Neely in the 1990s when CB Commercial came looking for an existing brokerage with which to partner. …

Ackerman, Johnson, Vidunas, Davis, Herchenroether, Deiseroth Read More »

Obituaries People

Curley, Martin, Kreisman, Rocher, Sarni, Lampl

by PQ Staff

Mary Taylor Walton Curley, 97The daughter of John and Rachel Mellon Walton and granddaughter of Gulf Oil founder William Larimer Mellon, she graduated from Vassar and worked at Pitt after World War II assisting women veterans on the GI Bill. She and her husband, oil executive Walter Curley, lived all over the world, from India …

Curley, Martin, Kreisman, Rocher, Sarni, Lampl Read More »

Obituaries

Hampton, Gumberg, Fox, O’Brien, Weber, Green

by PQ Staff

Slide Hampton, 89The virtuoso jazz trombonist, bandleader and Grammy Award-winning composer and musical arranger hailed from Jeannette, where his sister gave him the nickname Slide. One of 12 children, he spent his entire life in music, beginning as a singer and dancer with a family band and progressing to trombone at age 12. The Hampton …

Hampton, Gumberg, Fox, O’Brien, Weber, Green Read More »

Obituaries

Favorini, DeSantis, Johnson, Virdon, Diamond, Baskin

by PQ Staff

Attilio “Buck” Favorini, 78After earning a Ph.D. in History of the Theatre from Yale, the New York City native came to Pittsburgh in 1969 and spent 50 years here, founding the Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival, which became one of the top Shakespeare festivals in America. He joined the Pitt faculty and founded the university’s Theatre …

Favorini, DeSantis, Johnson, Virdon, Diamond, Baskin Read More »