Judith Elaine Gnibus "Judy"

Judith Elaine “Judy” Gnibus, 72, passed away Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019, in her home in Penn Township from a coronary related episode.

She was born Sept. 27, 1947, a daughter of Frank R. Gnibus, of Red Barn, and Ann Rovison Gnibus, of Blairsville. Both preceded Judy in death.

Judy’s mom passed away from tuberculosis at the Cresson Sanitarium when Judy was just 2ﾽ years old. She was required to live in a children’s home in Cresson because of her mother’s illness. Upon her mom’s death, she was raised by her Aunt Ann and Uncle Andy Kish, of Lucernemines. Her cousins, Bernard and Andrew R. Kish, welcomed her into their family as a “little sister.” Judy always spoke of her aunt and uncle with love, respect and fondness. She remained close to Bernard and Andrew and their families throughout her life, even when their respective careers took them away from the Lucernemines and Homer City area. Judy was the godmother of Bernard and Judy Kish’s youngest daughter, Kathryn Kish Hayman.

Judy also was immensely proud of her father, Frank R. Gnibus, for his high intellect, musical talents and love of science, and for the high regard people had for him in Homer City and Indiana County. An annual highlight for Judy was being with her dad at the Gnibus reunion at the Red Barn Sportsmen’s Club.

A graduate of Laura Lamar High School, Judy received a Bachelor of Science in education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh.

Her professional career included teaching, medical and public-health related positions; she taught at elementary schools in Rankin and Monroeville and adult education classes in Monroeville. She also held compliance and research positions at the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

She regularly attended Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows Roman Catholic Church in Murrysville.

For the last five years, her passion was being the president of the Friends of the Penn Area Library. She enthusiastically organized numerous book sales and raised hundreds of dollars for the support of the library and its programs.

A genuinely good person with a warm smile, she will be missed by her many cousins, their children and grandchildren, and friends.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 7 p.m. today at C. Frederick Bowser Funeral Home in Homer City. A blessing service will follow at 7:30 p.m. Her family requests that donations in her honor be made to the Penn Area Library.