Here are a few of the notable people who lived, served and loved Westmoreland County who died in 2021.

Submitted State Rep. Mike Reese  

State Rep. Mike Reese

State Rep. Mike Reese, 42, of Mt. Pleasant Township, was a 12-year House veteran representing Westmoreland and Somerset county residents in the 59th Legislative District. He died Jan. 2 following an apparent brain aneurysm.

In December 2020, Reese contracted the coronavirus and quarantined for several weeks.

Reese had been a rising member of the state’s Republican Party. In November 2020, he was elected to serve in a leadership role as the party’s majority caucus leader.

Reese started out his political career in Westmoreland County government, where he worked as chief of staff to Commissioner Terry Marolt in 2004. Reese served in the same role for Commissioner Phil Light and later transferred to the county’s budget and finance office.

Reese unsuccessfully ran in the Republican primary for county commissioner in 2007, but a year later won his first election to replace his retiring political mentor, Jess Stairs, as a representative in the state House.

Reese’s seat was filled in May in a special election won by Leslie Rossi, 50, of Unity.

Courtesy of Sisters of St. Joseph Sister Marguerite Moya Coyne  

Sister Marguerite Moya Coyne

Sister Marguerite Moya Coyne, who served as the superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Greensburg from 1998 to 2003, died Jan. 14. She was 80.

Coyne was a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph of Baden.

Coyne’s passion for education lead her into teaching when she became a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph. She taught for nine years in the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Altoona-Johnstown and Greensburg. She became principal at parochial schools in State College and at Ambridge Area. From 1987 to 2003, Coyne worked in key leadership positions in the Greensburg diocese.

“She was very dedicated to the Catholic schools,” said Monsignor Roger Statnick, who was vicar general of the diocese when Coyne was superintendent.

After serving as an educational consultant for three years, she was associate director for schools for three years, then associate superintendent from 1993-98.

During her tenure as superintendent under Bishop Anthony Bosco, she directed the regionalization of 15 schools and oversaw the budgets of 32 schools.

Courtesy at Bacha Funeral Home Joseph Pellis  

Joseph Pellis

Joseph Pellis, of Greensburg, the longtime athletic director at Norwin High School who also coached football and wrestling, died Jan. 19.

He was an educator for 35 years, with 34 of them at Norwin, prior to his retirement in 2003.

His family were longtime members of the Greensburg community. His grandfather, also named Joseph Pellis, helped create the mosaic tiling at the Westmoreland County Courthouse.

“Sports and coaching were his life,” Mark Pellis said of his father.

Courtesy of Sean Murphy Claudie Papenmeier  

Claudia Papenmeier

Claudia Papenmeier, who grew up attending St. John’s United Church of Christ in Larimer, was married to one of its former pastors and also serves as pastor of the church herself. She died Jan. 30 at age 86.

She served United Church of Christ flocks in McKees­port and DuBois before she took over leadership of the St. John’s congregation in 1993.

Papenmeier started a preschool in the Irwin area in the 1960s and provided similar leadership in early education in Iowa, one of the states where she accompanied her late husband of 44 years as he followed his pastoral calling.

After completing a double degree in biology and music at Seton Hill University, she earned a master of divinity degree from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and was ordained as a minister in 1990.

She was known for memorable sermons that relied closely on the Bible.

Courtesy of the Dymond family William Dymond  

William Dymond

William “Bill” Dymond, the first editor of the Sunday Tribune-Review, formerly of Latrobe, died Feb. 11 in the Baltimore area. He was 89.

Dymond and his wife, Philomena “Phil,” a former president of the Latrobe Chamber of Commerce, were fixtures in civic events in the Latrobe community.

Before he joined the Tribune-Review, he worked for the Latrobe Bulletin, where he worked with editor Vince Quatrini. He started as a reporter and later became the managing editor.

At the Trib, he was a news editor before becoming the founding editor of the Sunday Tribune-Review, which published its inaugural edition in May 1974. He held that position until retiring in 1994.

Courtesy of J. Bruce King family J. Bruce King  

J. Bruce King

J. Bruce King, a former Scottdale police officer and longtime district judge, died April 8. He was 75.

King graduated from Connellsville High School in 1963, then attended the Pennsylvania State Police Academy for municipal police officer training. He also obtained multiple college credits.

He was a Scottdale police officer for many years.

King was elected to be the district judge for Scottdale and the surrounding area in 1982. He retired in 2010. After retirement, he served as a senior judge for six years.

Courtesy of Richard Fry family Richard Fry  

Richard Fry

Richard Fry, a longtime Greensburg firefighter, was found in his vehicle June 24 after participating in the Mt. Pleasant Firemen’s Parade. He was 77.

For 49 years, Fry was a member of Greensburg Hose Company No. 7, which he joined in December 1972. He had served as its president, and, at the time of his death, served as vice president, house committee and was on the board of control.

Fry also was a member of several state and Westmoreland County firefighters associations, including the Westmoreland County Fire Chiefs Association.

Fry grew up in Latrobe and was a former member of the Latrobe Fire Department the St. Vincent Volunteer Fire Department.

Courtesy of the Emanuel family Michael Emanuel  

Michael Emanuel

Michael Emanuel of Southwest Greensburg, longtime owner of Harry’s Bar in Greensburg, died Sept. 12 after a battle with covid-19. He was 61.

Regulars at Harry’s Bar could be sure of one thing: they were welcome, and Emanuel would remember their names. The North Maple Street business was Greensburg’s answer to Cheers, the bar of TV fame, Emily Owczykowski said.

The longtime employee at Harry’s and close friend of Emanuel and his wife, Kathy, said the tavern owner did his best to make everyone comfortable.

His mother owned and operated the bar for decades, and Emanuel helped out there for most of his life. After her death in 2013, he retired as a district manager for Sunoco and took over the bar full time.

William Sekora

William “Bill” Sekora, longtime Jeannette EMS paramedic, died Oct. 8 of covid-19. He was 63.

A Penn Township resident, Sekora had worked since the late 1970s as a paramedic in the area, including the last 31 years at Jeannette EMS. He was past chief of Penn Township EMS and was a former member of Grandview Volunteer Fire Department in the township as well as the Westmoreland County Hazmat Team 800.

Sekora also was a paramedic instructor for many years.

“He definitely was a household name in the emergency services field in the county, working so many years as a paramedic, firefighter, on the hazardous materials team and in training paramedics. My experience with him was that he was a good, all-around guy,” Westmoreland County Coroner Ken Bacha said.

Submitted Keith Boring  

Keith Boring

Keith Boring, chief of the New Florence Volunteer Fire Company, died Oct. 19 of covid-19. He was 56.

Boring and three former auxiliary members died in October from covid-related difficulties.

Boring was a life member of the company who served 24 years as chief.

The auxiliary members who died were Amy Sapp, 39, whose husband is a volunteer firefighter at the station, on Oct. 24. Sapp’s sister, Bonnie McAdams, 47, died Oct. 27, and their 66-year-old mother Connie Payne died Oct. 29.

“It’s just a sudden loss and, unfortunately, we not only lost one but we lost four,” Brandon Teeter, president of the New Florence Volunteer Fire Company, said.

According to his obituary, Boring was an auto mechanic who owned K&M Auto in New Florence. He previously served as an EMT for West End and Laurel Valley ambulance services and was the president of the New Florence VFW. He was also a member of the St. Clair Tremont Club and The Russian Club, and enjoyed camping and riding his motorcycle.

Courtesy of the Diocese of Greensburg The Rev. Thomas Federline  

The Rev. Thomas Federline

The Rev. Thomas Federline, pastor of St. Pius X and Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary parishes in Mt. Pleasant, died Nov. 8 of covid-19. He was 72.

Federline moved to Mt. Pleasant in July 2020, after serving as pastor of St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish in Indiana.

“Even though he could have retired at the age of 70, Father Federline received a new assignment graciously, which I believe is a model of his priestly dedication and service,” said Greensburg Bishop Larry J. Kulick.

Federline “was a good pastor. He took that role very seriously,” said the Rev. Richard J. Kosisko, who preceded Federline in Mt. Pleasant before moving to his current post, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Latrobe.

A native of Baltimore, Federline attended school in the Diocese of Pittsburgh and later was a parishioner of Mother of Sorrows Parish, Murrysville.

He worked in his family’s real estate business before being called to the priesthood. He earned a master of divinity degree at Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. and was ordained a priest in 1985 at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Greensburg.

The Rev. Augustine Flood

The Rev. Augustine Flood, a Benedictine priest whose career spanned half a century and included stints as a parish priest, missionary, theology professor and president of Saint Vincent College, died Nov. 11. He was 83.

The priest, affectionately known as “Father Gus,” studied in Italy, Germany and the U.S. He was named the 12th president of Saint Vincent College in 1982 and steered the previously all-male school in Unity through a successful transition to coeducation during his tenure as college president from 1982-85.

He went on to serve as a missionary at the Wimmer Priory in Taiwan and later as pastor at St. Bartholomew Parish in Crabtree.

Bishop Larry Kulick of the Greensburg Diocese remembered Flood as a thoughtful scholar and theologian.

Courtesy of the Regoli family David Regoli  

David Regoli

David Regoli, a lawyer, former Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court judge and Lower Burrell councilman, died Dec. 9. He was 56.

Those who knew him insist David Regoli — the middle child of former county commissioner and state Sen. John Regoli and his wife, Dolly — was more than just another local barrister who dabbled in politics. Friends and associates say he was a trusted adviser who put people ahead of politics.

More than that, he was the glue that held a family together after tragedy struck twice in a period of four months.

First there was the death of his younger sister, Sharon Regoli Ciferno, 50, from injuries she suffered in an accident while vacationing in Mexico in August 2017. Five months later, his older brother, John Regoli Jr., died of brain cancer in January 2018 at the age of 54.

Regoli’s professional achievements were notable on a national scale, including participating in Michael Jackson’s 2013 wrongful death lawsuit and becoming the first attorney ever to get two presidents — Barack Obama in 2017 and Donald Trump in 2019 — to grant full and unconditional presidential pardons to the same client. He tried cases across Pennsylvania and in New Jersey, Texas, Ohio and Kentucky.

A Democrat, Regoli secured his judicial appointment from then-Republican Gov. Tom Corbett in 2014.

In Westmoreland County, Regoli helped set up the first veterans court to offer alternatives to prison time — such as mental health treatment — to low-level offenders. He spoke about learning of the challenges of post-traumatic stress and other issues from his cousin’s combat experience in Afghanistan.

Tribune-Review Gerald Lucia  

Gerald Lucia

Gerald “Jerry” Lucia, the longtime Mt. Pleasant mayor and fire chief, died Dec. 17. He was 76.

Lucia, who was a volunteer firefighter for 46 years, the last 31 of them as chief.

Lucia was in his ninth term as mayor, an office he had held since 1985. He served on borough council for six years, from 1979-85.

“Anything for the community” was Lucia’s motto.

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