CAROL MASSARO

MASSARO CAROL

With her family at her bedside, Carol Massaro died peacefully at her home on December 27, 2018 after a two-year battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Carol was born on July 18, 1939 in Pittsburgh's Sheridan neighborhood. She was the third child of Edward and Margaret (Michalena Spada) Coleman's seven children (Thomas, Frank, Carol, Edward, Nancy, Chester and Michael). She graduated from Langley High School and shortly thereafter married the love of her life, Joseph A. Massaro, Jr., on October 1, 1960. In addition to her husband Joe, she was preceded in death by her parents; and her sister, Nancy; she is survived by her four children, Linda, Joe III (Alina), David (Luci), and Steven (Stephanie); her 15 grandchildren, Steven Studnicky (Alex Ellis), Alex Studnicky Gardella (Chris Gardella), Sofia Massaro, Olivia Massaro, Carolyn Cost, Marta Massaro, Josie Cost, Isabella Massaro, Meredith Massaro, Charlie Massaro, Elizabeth Massaro, Lily Massaro, Joseph Massaro IV, Ava Massaro, and Charlotte Massaro; and her three great-grandchildren, Gus and Murphy Gardella and Luke Studnicky (born on Christmas Eve). Carol graduated from Chatham College in 1985 with a B.A. in Art History. Throughout her life, Carol remained actively involved in a variety of philanthropic organizations, including The 25 Club at the Magee-Women's Hospital of UPMC, Pittsburgh Opera, Little Sisters of the Poor, Roman Catholic Dioceses of Pittsburgh, Senator John Heinz History Center, Pittsburgh Ballet, Phipps Conservatory, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, LaRoche College and University of Pittsburgh. Carol has also been the recipient of numerous civic and community recognitions, including first female recipient of the 2017 Pittsburgh Italian Scholarship Fund, Oakland Catholic High Schools 2016 Leading Ladies, Pittsburgh Opera's Maecenas Award, Ladies Hospital Aid Society's Patient Advocacy Award, Angel's Place Halo Award, Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania's Italian American Heritage Award, Honorary Distinction of Chief Horticulturist of Phipps Conservancy and Botanic Gardens, Carlow University's Women of Spirit Award, The 25 Club of Magee-Women's Hospital of UPMC Lillian Reese Award and the Elizabeth B. McCullough Award. But perhaps her most notable accomplishment was establishing the Joseph A. Massaro, Jr. Alzheimer's Research Fund at the Pittsburgh Foundation. Not willing to sit back and simply watch Alzheimer's Disease ravage her husband of 55 years without a fight, she founded the fund in 2013 with the goal of finding a cure for the disease in Pittsburgh. To date, she has raised nearly $1,000,000. Friends and family will be received on Sunday, December 30, 2018 from 1-7 p.m. at JOHN A. FREYVOGEL SONS, INC. (freyvogelfuneralhome.com), 4900 Centre Avenue at Devonshire Street. Funeral Monday, December 31, 2018, Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland at 10 a.m. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests you consider donating to the Joseph A. Massaro, Jr. Alzheimer's Research Fund at the Pittsburgh Foundation (pittsburghfoundation.org/Massaro) or to the Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease at UPMC (giveto.pitt.edu) and type in Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Disease.