Latrobe woman remembered for love of people

Joan McGuire loved to be around people, especially her son, David Sichula.

“My mother and I had a very close relationship,” Sichula said. “She was my best friend, and I was her best friend.”

The duo spent a lot of time together, with Sichula taking her to visit London and Paris and to his timeshare in St. Martin, Fla.

Her favorite thing to do on vacation was to sit by the pool and people watch, he said. Always having a smile on her face, Sichula said, people loved to be around her.

“Anybody that met my mother instantly took a liking to her,” Sichula said.

Joan McGuire of Latrobe died Thursday, April 25, 2019 at Excela Health Latrobe Hospital. She was 96.

Born in Latrobe, she was the daughter of John and Sophie Leason.

A fervent member of St. John the Evangelist Church, Mrs. McGuire made sure to attend services every Sunday, making sure to put the time into any organization or company she worked for.

Starting out, Mrs. McGuire was a practical nurse at Westmoreland Manor before she became a waitress. Working at the former Tucker’s Restaurant in Ligonier as a second career, McGuire spent most of her time interacting with customers.

“My mother always said that if the restaurant was still open, she’d still be working there,” Sichula said, adding that she continued to do housework as long as she could.

In her free time, Mrs. McGuire enjoyed reading, doing word puzzles, gardening and trying new foods.

Each time she would visit Sichula at his New York City home, they would try new restaurants, he said, calling her a “foodie.”

“She was a hardworking woman with a heart of gold,” he said, adding that if anybody needed anything from her, she would instantly help them.

She is preceded in death by her husband, George A. McGuire Jr.; her brothers, Stanley, Joseph and John A. Leason; and her sisters, Angela Paicz, Marie Cohn, Stella Hricik and Blanche Madden.

In addition to her son, Mrs. McGuire is survived by six nieces and her nephew.

Friends will be received from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at the John J. Lopatich Funeral Home, 601 Weldon St., Latrobe. Members of the St. John Rosary Altar Christian Mothers will recite the Rosary at 2:30 p.m. Monday in the funeral home.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated 10 a.m. Tuesday at the St. John the Evangelist Church. Interment will be private.