Angeline Buba

1921 - 2017

Angeline "Angie" (Gentile) Buba, 95, formerly of Braddock, passed away at Concordia of Monroeville on June 7, 2017. She was born on Aug. 25, 1921, in Tursi, Italy to the late Pasquale Gentile and Gilda Gessi Gentile. In 1929, she immigrated from Tursi to Braddock with her mother, her sister Philomena and brother Antonio. Angeline's father, a shoemaker, came to Braddock seven years earlier. His shop, Pasquale's Shoe Repair, was located on Braddock Ave. Eight years later, in 1929, Mr. Gentile was able to save enough money to send for the rest of his family. Angeline married Edward Buba on Jan. 22, 1941. He died on Jan. 10, 1997, 12 days before their 56th wedding anniversary. She was preceded in death by her brother, Antonio Gentile, Army, who was killed in France during World War II; and her sister, Philomena (Cuccaro) Gentile. She is survived by her two sons, Anthony "Tony" Buba and his wife, Jan McMannis-Buba and Pasquale "Pat" Buba and his wife, Zilla Clinton Buba; along with many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews and numerous cousins in the United States and Italy. Angeline worked in craft services at the University of Pittsburgh, as a volunteer at Braddock General Hospital and was a member of the Good Shepherd Church, Good Shepherd Senior Citizens, Good Shepherd Women's Guild, East Pittsburgh AARP, Rankin Christian Center and Healthy Horizons UPMC Braddock. Angie also appeared as an extra in several George Romero films, including Martin and Knightriders. She was devastated when UPMC closed the Braddock Hospital and she was not able to have her daily coffee with her cousin Minnie and her friends at the Cot Club. Angeline loved travelling and made many trips to Italy to visit Tursi, where she was born. In Tursi, Angelina was a person of historical significance. She was the last living person who spoke perfect Tursitano dialect. When she visited Tursi, town historians would gather around and ask her questions so they could record her speech. In an interview with film critic and journalist Salvatore Verde, Angeline spoke poetically in her dialect about what it was like to be an immigrant. This is a rough translation of the interview, "I have had a dignified life; serene, nostalgic and no regrets, with two children of whom I am proud. But this does not completely obliterate the desire to silence the soul through a temporary fleeting return to my roots, to the places of memory, to the years of childhood, to a whole world I know no longer exists, except in me only. In fact, my long life has taken place elsewhere, so it is not a return home, but as with all emigrants, it is a backward journey through time that is shown in all its incredible truth. That is, you are alive, but it is as if we could come back from the dead to see how the world has gone. In a sense, we are the ghosts of flesh and bone, the only possible in this world. It's the only experience of being at the same time the absent protagonist and spectator of the film of your own life. And this always happens when I return to Tursi. But I feel that this time is a little different, with the awareness of my age. Who knows, if and when there will be another appearance." The family would like to thank the staff at Concordia and Juniper Village, Carla Kinsel, Val and Bobbi for the loving care she received while at Concordia and Juniper Village. The family would also like to thank all the residents of Braddock, especially her Fifth Street neighbors, the Rose, Briston, Jackson, Mebane and Sanford families for contributing greatly to the wonderful life she led.
Friends welcome from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday and from 2 to 8 p.m. Monday at PATRICK T. LANIGAN FUNERAL HOME AND CREMATORY INC., 700 Linden Ave. at Cable, East Pittsburgh, 412-824-8800. Mass of Christian burial will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Good Shepherd Church, Braddock. Angeline will then be laid to rest in Braddock Catholic Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Braddock Carnegie Library, 419 Library St., Braddock, PA 15104 or www.braddockcarnegielibrary.org. www.laniganfuneralhome.com.