5 generations of Lintelman family call Plum, Penn Hills area home

The Plum/Penn Hills area is home to many longtime families, some of whom have called the area home since the mid-1900s.

That’s the case for the Lintelman family, which boasts five generations living in the eastern suburbs, spanning more than 90 years between its oldest and youngest members.

The majority of the family still lives in Plum, while a few family members have spread out to places such as Florida and Ohio.

It all started when Marie Lintelman, now a great-great grandmother, moved to Penn Hills in 1955.

She has lived in the Pittsburgh area her entire life and had five children — Barbara Kline (Penn Hills), Beverly Lintelman (Plum), Jamie Alexander (Florida), Christine Wittkopp (Ohio) and John Byers (Export) — with her first husband, prior to marrying Herb Lintelman.

Herb also had five children from a previous marriage — Ken Lintelman (Plum), Linda Giuto (Greensburg), the late-Skip Lintelman, Buddy Lintelman (Plum) and Deb Kuhn (Plum).

After the marriage, as the 10 children came together, the roots of the large family tree sprouted. One of those roots had an interesting twist. Prior to Marie and Herb’s marriage, one of Marie’s daughters, Beverly, had married one of Herb’s sons, Ken. So, in addition to being husband and wife, Beverly and Ken also became step-siblings when their parents married.

“Our relationship didn’t change, we were happily married with three small children,” Beverly said. “What we did gain was an amazing, loving family who all get along, and keeps growing.”

In addition to Marie, who still lives in Penn Hills, and Beverly, the remaining three generations all have family living in Plum. The community has meant a lot to the family, especially Nesbit’s Lanes, where Marie, 92, still drags her family each week. That’s something that’s just fine with Beverly.

“The only thing I was interested in (growing up) was cheerleading and bowling,” Beverly said. “And boys.”

Kim Denne, one of Beverly’s five children and the third generation of the family in Plum, has long ties to the area. Despite moving around to places such as Atlanta as a young kid, her family returned to Plum when she was 15 years old.

Kim and Beverly used to sell beauty products throughout the community. Now their community involvement is mostly limited to the bowling and activities with ties to family in the area.

Kim and her husband Josh have two children, Maiya O’Malley and Chase Denne — the fourth generation who have chosen to remain in Plum.

“It was nice to be around all of my friends all the time,” said Maiya about living in Plum. “Just being able to walk around to where everyone lived.”

Maiya and her husband Evan are responsible for both members of the family’s fifth generation. The couple’s two daughters, Naomi, 3, and Norah, 1, round out the Lintelman family tree.

Herb died in December, at age 92, not long after meeting Norah, his second great-great granddaughter at a family picnic at Idlewild Park. The picnic was their 82nd such reunion at the park. The 83rd took place on Labor Day.

“Family was the most important thing (to Herb)” Marie and Beverly said in a written statement. “He loved when we all came together for food, fun and games!”

All told, Marie, now sits alone at the top of the family tree with 26 grandchildren, 38 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.

“Having family around is probably the coolest thing,” Kim said. “Because we get to have big family events and just little get-togethers throughout the whole year. But what’s really nice is that all the kids who get to grow up together are best friends.”