Barbara Gurecka

BARBARA   GURECKA

Barbara Ann Gurecka, age 88, passed away on Saturday, February 24, 2018 at her home in Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania. She was born, Barbara Ann Fitzgerald on July 4, 1929 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of four children of Edward Bernard Fitzgerald and Helen Veronica (Dudley) Fitzgerald.

She was a longtime employee of McKeesport Hospital, in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, as a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Room.  A graduate of St. Francis School of Nursing, Barbara belonged to the St. Francis Nursing Alumni Association, the St. Thomas A’ Becket Catholic Church Ladies of Charity, enjoyed playing Bridge and was an avid swimmer and reader.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, Edward Dudley Fitzgerald.  Barbara is survived by her loving husband, Joseph “Lou” Gurecka; six children, Eileen (Joseph) Hill of Mequon, Wisconsin, Joseph (Helen) Gurecka, Jr. of Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania, Michael Gurecka of Meriden, Connecticut, Christine (Thomas) Koenig of Daphne, Alabama, Sandra (Charles “Flip”) Benack of Jefferson Hills and Robert (Dena) Gurecka of Sewickley, Pennsylvania; eight grandchildren, Jonathan (Elke), Jeffrey (Lorie) and Monica Hill, Diana Gurecka, Jennifer Koenig Palyok, Nicole and Jacob Benack and Jordan Gurecka; four great grandchildren, Blake, Luke, Ethan and Greyson Palyok and two sisters, Mary Lou (Robert) Barker of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania and Patricia McDonald of Indiana, Pennsylvania.

Friends will be received from 2 – 4 and 6 – 8 PM on Wednesday, February 28, 2018 in the Stephen D. Slater Funeral Home 1701 Route 51 (Large) in Jefferson Hills.  A Mass of Christian Burial for Barbara will be held on Thursday, March 1, 2018 at 10 AM in St. Thomas A’ Becket Catholic Church, 139 Gill Hall Road, Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania 15025.  Father Daniel Maurer will Celebrate the Mass. EVERYONE PLEASE MEET AT CHURCH . Her burial will follow in Jefferson Memorial Park Cemetery in Pleasant Hills, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15236.

In lieu of flowers, Barbara’s family suggests donations to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Western Pennsylvania www.cff.org/westernpa, the Alzheimer’s Association www.alz.org/pa, or the American Heart Association www.heart.org.