Greensburg woman had passion for helping others, family

When Chris Luccy was growing up, he said his mom, Barbara, would sit in his room, listening to the elaborate stories he made up for his G.I. Joe.

“She sat there and listened to my explanations of everything,” he said. “I think part of why I’m a writer now is her influence and her willingness to listen.”

Barbara Britt Luccy always put her family first, helping them through difficult situations and taking care of them with the help of her background as a registered nurse, he said.

“She was super kind … and always just took care of everybody,” Chris Luccy said. “She was our caretaker, she was the one who got us through times like this. Just a loving mother.”

Mrs. Barbara Britt Luccy, 71, of Greensburg died Monday, Dec. 16, 2019. Born in Greensburg Feb. 17, 1948, she was the daughter of Robert and Thelma Britt.

Growing up, Mrs. Luccy knew she wanted to be a nurse from the age of three, her sister, Patricia Lucas, said, adding that her sister always read her favorite book “Nurse Nancy.”

“She was very studious,” Lucas said. “She played piano a lot. I was the one who was outside and she was inside playing piano or studying.”

After graduating as a national merit scholar from Sewickley High School, she quickly rose to the top of her class at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing.

After graduating in 1970, Mrs. Luccy accepted a job as a charge nurse at UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital, her favorite rotation being when she got to work with babies, her daughter, Dana Luccy Lehman, said. After that, she accepted a teaching position with Pitt’s nursing school.

On Dec. 18, 1971, Mrs. Luccy married her husband, Christoper, with whom she had three children. By 1975, Christopher J. Luccy opened his own dentistry practice, 4 Kids Dental Center in downtown Greensburg, which he operated until 2016.

“She was the office manager and she did some of the nursing stuff,” Lehman said. “She was definitely the behind the scenes.”

When she wasn’t caring for other people or her family, Mrs. Luccy spent time attending Pitt football and basketball games, and was there, kids in tow, no matter the temperature.

She also enjoyed going to Downtown Pittsburgh to see Broadway shows and to the Palace Theatre in Greensburg. Mrs. Luccy took that passion for music to Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Greensburg where she and her husband were members of the choir.

“She was our stabilizing force here in the family,” Lehman said.

In addition to her husband, two children and sister, Mrs. Luccy is survived by her daughter Britt McAtee and six granddaughters.

Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Leo M. Bacha Funeral Home, 516 Stanton St., Greensburg. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. Saturday in Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, 1011 Mt. Pleasant Rd., Hempfield. Entombment will follow in Greensburg Catholic Cemetery Mausoleum.

Donations can be made in her name to the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, 150 Finoli Drive.