McKeesport woman remembered as extraordinary teacher, friend of community

No one was surprised when Jamie Brewster Filotei came back to McKeesport after college, first earning a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s.

Friends say the woman who attended Mansfield University of Pennsylvania on a basketball scholarship could have gone anywhere, but her roots were in McKeesport. And the city was in her heart.

So, she came home.

She married Kenneth Filotei, had a family and began a teaching career that spanned 24 years and touched the hearts of countless children from the mill town where she served as vice president of city council.

Jamie Lyn Brewster Filotei, 46, died at home Tuesday, May 12, 2020, after a lengthy battle with lung cancer.

Mrs. Filotei was born Dec. 22, 1973, in McKeesport, the eldest daughter of state Sen. James R. and Linda Harding Brewster.

Melissa Piontka, a lifelong friend and fellow fourth-grade teacher at Francis McClure Elementary School, said it was a blessing to teach with her best friend. Piontka taught language arts and social studies; Mrs. Filotei taught math and science.

“She would reach out and connect with these kids better than I’ve ever seen anyone connect with children as a teacher. And if she was worried about them or hadn’t seen one of them in a while, she’d drive by their house. She’d connect with moms and see if they needed anything. She brought them food, if they needed it. She’s had relationships with kids of every different demographic,” Piontka said.

Another friend, Mindy Sturgess, a member of the McKeesport School Board, remembers how Mrs. Filotei recruited and organized the teachers and staff at multiple schools in the district to undertake a special project. Each year, they would select one family from each school to sponsor for Christmas. Sturgess said her friend made sure they got to know the family’s needs. Then they took up a collection, purchased gifts for every family member, including the parents.

“She always put others first. She was always involved in her kids’ sports. I remember when she was so sick and had lost weight that she’d dress in layers and wrap herself up in blankets to watch her son, T.J., play football at Geneva College,” Sturgess said.

McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko, another longtime friend, said Mrs. Filotei may have been the community’s biggest booster.

“I think of her and her husband, Kenny, raising their family in the community that molded them, of how she worked with generations of McKeesport Area students to guarantee they had access to a first-class education, of her long history of volunteer work or her time on city council, and I’m just so proud to call her a friend,” he said.

Cherepko said her grace during her illness was remarkable.

“For her to stay so positive says volumes about her,” he said.

Mrs. Filotei was a member of Christy Park United Methodist Church and the Kiwanis Club of McKeesport, and she was heavily involved with Girls on the Run, a youth-development program.

In addition to her husband and parents, she is survived by her children, Thomas J. and Nina G. Filotei of McKeesport; paternal grandmother, Doris Bailey of McKeesport; sisters, Jodi (Curtis) Adams of Mount Gilead, Ohio, and Jill (Jeffrey) Lape of McKeesport; father- and mother-in-law, Thomas (Kathy Kovacs) Filotei of McKeesport; brother-in-law, Jaimie A. Filotei of McKeesport; nieces and nephews; and loyal pet dog, Lily.

Private family arrangements were entrusted to Willig Funeral Home & Crematory. Burial will be in Mt. Vernon Cemetery.

Piontka said members of the community, fellow teachers and friends plan to line McKeesport’s Eden Park Boulevard, near Renzie Park, shortly before 12:30 p.m. Friday to pay their respects as Mrs. Filotei’s family and the funeral cortege pass by on the way to the cemetery. She said friends felt it was the best they could do in the era of covid-19 restrictions on public funerals.

“I really wish the funeral home could have been open for a viewing. You would have seen people lined up around the block. But since that’s not the case, we wanted to honor her this way,” Piontka said.