Letitia Maria Wszolek

Letitia (McPoyle) Wszolek of Tampa died on June 28th after a brief illness. She was 93. Maria Letitia (Tish) McPoyle was born on October 31, 1929 to Harry and Letitia (Pio) McPoyle in Philadelphia. Raised by a loving if slightly impoverished family through the Great Depression, she recalled childhood with three brothers and a sister who adored their youngest sibling. As a child Tish remembered roller skating with friends along the streets of the big city under sycamores, admitting that her mother would have been horrified if she knew how far from her block she had traveled, signs of a future life of adventure.

After graduating from Philadelphia's West Catholic High School, Tish attended Westchester University (then Westchester State Teacher's College) graduating with a degree in music. In 1955, she married Walt Wszolek and began married life in New Jersey, New York City, and in 1959 they moved to Howard County, Maryland.

Walt and Tish had three children, who were raised on a small farm in Carroll County, Maryland. In 1968 after attending Peabody Institute, in Baltimore, in pursuit of a master's degree, she began teaching music in Maryland public elementary schools. This began a 50-year plus career in teaching which continued until she reached 90 years of age.

In 1988, when Walt retired, a long-held dream of living in Florida became reality and they moved to Pine Island, to a beautiful home situated on two canals built with their own hands. For the next 34 years at Pine Island and nearby Cape Coral, Tish continued to teach music, served with the Kiwanis Club, and volunteered in numerous charity organizations.

This also became a time where Walt and Tish fulfilled their dream of travel. Jaunts to visit a son or daughter, now living in California, germinated to rail round Europe, behind the recently collapsed Iron Curtain, and bloomed into round-the-world odysseys, research trips to Baja Mexico, and expeditions to Tahiti, Fiji, and beyond, on 'slow boat' container ships, For two and a half years Walt and Tish became expatriates, residing on an island off Panama where they built a stilt house over the sea.

In later years, they returned to the States and Florida, settling down to reflect on their adventures. In 2009 they purchased a fine home on a green at the Cape Coral Royal Palms golf community where Tish continued teaching piano, volunteering, and traveling to visit a son, now residing in West Virginia, and daughter in California. Their youngest daughter and son-in-law, residing nearby gave her a lovely granddaughter. Enjoyable cruises up the Mississippi became a practical alternative to the grueling travels of the past.

In 2016, after a brief illness, Walt passed away, leaving Tish to continue alone with her adventures. Although piano teaching and social engagements were pleasurable, these became challenging as her hearing faded. When she reached 91 years of age, she decided to sell her home and move to Renaissance Assisted living near her daughter and granddaughter in Lutz, Fla. Grasping technology as her hearing failed, she engaged in continuous communications with her children and friends by text. Her last expressions reflected love for her family and satisfaction with the way things had been through her long and well-lived life. Tish was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers and a sister. She is survived by her daughter Kit of Lutz, Florida, daughter Vickie of Poway, California, and son Chris of Union, West Virginia, as well as her beloved Granddaughter, Grace, who attends Elon University in North Carolina. Additional images and info available at this link: https://obituaries.nationalcremation.com/obituaries/clearwater-fl/maria-wszolek-11351468. Donations in lieu of flowers to savethemusic.org will be appreciated.