Loretta McDermott

Loretta Simeoni McDermott, of Scott Township, passed away peacefully at home on Nov. 6, 2024, surrounded by family.
Born Oct. 7, 1936, Loretta was a proud daughter of Italian immigrants, Emilia and Luigi Simeoni, who hailed from Dignano in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. Born in Monessen, Pennsylvania, Loretta and her family moved to the heart of downtown Pittsburgh, first to the Bluff near Duquesne University, then to Terrace Village in the Hill District, and then to a farm along Baptist Road in Baldwin, where she helped her father tend the animals on a family farm that supplied Angelo's Restaurant in Pittsburgh. Finally, her family settled at 169 Plymouth St. in the Duquesne Heights neighborhood of Mount Washington, where Loretta went on to graduate from St. Mary of the Mount High School and soon thereafter met the love of her life, Frank "Bim" McDermott. They were married at St. Mary's Church on Aug. 29, 1959.
Together, Loretta and Frank ventured out from his family's home on Iberia Street where they started life together to build their own new home and raise their four children in Scott Township, where they nurtured lifelong friendships with their beloved tight-knit group of neighbors who built their homes and lives, and together raised all the kids who had the unique privilege of growing up together on a cul-de-sac in Scott Twp, and surrounding S.S. Nixon Elementary School neighborhoods. Loretta also devoted more than two decades of service to the University of Pittsburgh bookstore. She was a voracious reader and journal writer, and an impeccable bookkeeper. She could go toe-to-toe with the best Jeopardy contestants and helped her husband finish many a New York Times crossword puzzle as they enjoyed their morning coffee together at their kitchen table. Loretta loved dancing and music of all kinds - and, boy, were friends and family always amazed when Frank and the otherwise reserved "Rosie" would hit the dance floor like no others could at any neighborhood or family wedding! She and Frank loved summer vacations at the beach (including the Nags Heads and Outer Banks, Topsail, Oak Island, and, of course, times spent at Sunset Beach with Vicky and Bob) as well as many additional adventures to destinations around the U.S. and abroad, including exploring their familial homelands of Ireland and Italy.
A strong and strong-willed person of principle with deeply held convictions, Loretta was a lifelong Democrat and supporter of working people and those less fortunate, core values which she quietly instilled in her children, not through her words, but through her deeds. Still, she reserved and expended most of her boundless energy and passion as a loving selfless nurturer and caregiver: first to her ailing mother who she cared for throughout her own teen years and into her twenties, to her children and grandchildren, who she adored and who all relied on her short-spoken quips of straight-talking wisdom to guide them through many of life's journeys, and, most of all, to her beloved husband "Bim" with whom she shared over a half century of her fruitful and most meaningful life, until he passed peacefully in 2018 in the very same family room in the very same loving home and life that they built together at 146 Cherrytree Road.
In recent years, Loretta was known perhaps most widely as "Nonna," cheering along the sidelines of softball and soccer games and tournaments, dance recitals, school plays and more. Her memory will live on through her eight grandchildren - Casey McDermott (Collin Gately), Cassidy Cooper, Jeffrey Cooper, Mitchell McDermott, Connor McDermott, Taylor Walsh, Shayleigh Walsh and Sean Walsh - and the many friends and loved ones lucky enough to be touched by her quick wit, bright laughter, and fierce loyalty through the years.
She is predeceased by her sister, Lucy Simeoni, and brother, Edward Simeoni. She will be missed terribly by her four children: Terry (Jeff) Cooper, Tim (Geralyn) McDermott, Tom (Dana) McDermott and Tina (Paul) McDermott Walsh.
Two visitations will be held Monday, Nov. 11, 2024 at Bagnato Funeral Home (50 Jefferson St., Carnegie, PA 15106) from 2-4 p.m. and 6-9 p.m. The funeral service will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 12, at Our Lady of Grace Church (St. Michael the Archangel Parish) at 310 Kane Blvd. Burial service to follow at Resurrection Catholic Cemetery in Coraopolis.
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