Janice McMannis

In grief and love, we report that Janice McMannis, 78, of Braddock Hills, unexpectedly passed away in her home on Tuesday evening, December 9th, 2025. Jan was born on June 29, 1947, to the late Hubert Ray Evans and LaVerne (Walton) Evans in Los Angeles, California and spent her childhood in Arcadia, California. Janice is survived by her husband Tony Buba, her loving sister, Marilyn (Evans) Kohler, brother-in-law Stephen Kohler, nephew Nathan Kohler and his wife Heather Kohler.

Jan held a Master's Degree in English from Western Washington University and a reading specialist certificate from the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to careers in teaching and reading support, she worked as an Editorial Consultant for Wide Angle Magazine, and Film Programmer at Pittsburgh Filmmakers

Jan loved experimental, documentary, and narrative films. Lucky for Tony Buba, that's how she showed up at the Athens Film Festival in 1982. Tony's film, Betty's Corner Cafe, was being screened at the festival, and when Jan saw it, she knew she needed to find the filmmaker. Why was this film, which lovingly observes steelworkers who come to a cafe to eat and drink, so captivating to Jan? Because this combination of respect and compassion for all people is how Jan lived her entire life: heart and mind attuned to others and the dignity of work and struggle. Needless to say, Jan found that filmmaker and together they built a love story and life partnership founded on justice, compassion, solidarity, and humor.

Jan moved to Braddock in 1985 to live with Tony; they lived in one half of a duplex. Tony's parents and his Grandmother Mrs. G. lived in the other half. Tony claims Jan quickly fell even more in love with the Braddock community than with Tony. They married on September 3rd, 1988.
Jan devoted her life to working with students in prisons, on tribal lands, and in public libraries. For twenty years, as the Director of the Writing Center for student-athletes at the University of Pittsburgh, she challenged and inspired students to rise to their best. Jan supported hundreds of students through her persistent presence and capacity to see each person's humanity and ability. After many years of working with Pitt football players, each of them knew a whole lot more about the fundamentals of writing, but Jan never learned one thing about football. All she knew was if a guy was skinny, he was probably a defensive back.

Jan was active in Braddock community organizations and social justice work, serving as the President of the Board of Directors of what is now Carnegie One (formerly Braddock Carnegie Library), where she advocated to ensure the library's preservation and ability to serve the community.

Jan was a core member in the community fight to save Braddock Hospital, which UPMC ultimately shuttered and demolished. Vocal and tireless in her fightback, Jan did not spare the political elite when she spoke truth to power, even to the then-County Executive who expressed "empathy" with residents while capitulating to the corporate interests.

Jan was a long-distance runner in the fight for radical change, never looking for the spotlight while serving as a backbone organizer with North Braddock Residents for our Future: a group which fought and eventually stopped fracking in the Edgar Thompson mill.

Jan loved to travel in ways that spoke to her political and familial commitments. Whether visiting Cuba, Sierra Leone, or Tursi, Italy, she travelled understanding the dignity of the places and people she got to know. Jan was an important part of a team that made the prize-winning film, Ghosts of Amistad: In the Footsteps of the Rebels, about the popular memory in Sierra Leone of the famous slave schooner uprising of 1839. Jan contributed to every phase of the film, from conceptualization to filming, editing, and final production.

Fiercely smart and loving, Jan was the light of Tony's life. Tony and Jan were always living a love story: clear and adventurous in their commitment to each other and to social justice. Jan was and is a light to us all.

Friends are welcome on Wednesday, December 17th from 6-8 p.m. and Thursday, December 18th from 2-8 p.m. at Patrick T. Lanigan Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc., Turtle Creek / Monroeville Chapel, 1111 Monroeville Ave., Turtle Creek, 412-823-9350.

Jan will be laid to rest privately in Braddock Catholic Cemetery.

A Memorial Service will be held on Friday, December 19th at 11:30 a.m. in the Carnegie Music Hall of Carnegie One (formerly the Braddock Carnegie Library).

In honor of Jan's life and convictions, please consider donations in her name to Carnegie One (formerly Braddock Carnegie Library), 419 Library St., Braddock, PA 15104, www.carnegieone.org. -OR- Just Harvest, 317 E Carson St, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.