Nancy Martha Masuga
Nancy Martha Masuga peacefully passed away Wednesday, September 29, 2021, in her daughter’s home in Morgantown, W.Va., after 89 years of a life well-lived.
Born October 22, 1931, in East Bethlehem Township, Washington County, to Frank and Frances Turina, Nancy grew up in Fredericktown and graduated from East Bethlehem High School with the Class of 1949. She lived most of her adult life in Carmichaels after marrying her husband, John T. Masuga Jr., November 25, 1954.
While raising their four daughters, her love of reading and education led her to attend night classes at Penn State University, and then California University of Pennsylvania, where she received her undergraduate and master’s degrees.
She was a beloved English teacher at Carmichaels Area High School for 25 years, where she was active with the National Honor Society, cheerleading squad, and many other clubs, organizations and causes. She had a powerful lexicon and passion for literature, art, and music, and loved conveying her knowledge to her students with humor and wit. She felt that being a mother first helped her to be a better teacher because she viewed her students, who admired her because of her quiet example, as her own children.
After her retirement, Nancy and John spent many happy years traveling together through 49 states, Canada, Mexico, and Europe, a highlight being a trip to the Vienna Opera Ball in Austria.
Nancy was a special, loving, charitable, hard-working, Christian woman who practiced her faith, and was an active member of St. Hugh’s Roman Catholic Church. In addition to her activities at the school and church, she could also often be seen checking out a stack of books at the Flenniken Public Library and helping out at the Greene Academy.
Nancy had a warm, fun-loving spirit and a great sense of humor. She was blessed with many friends and surrounded by an adoring family, to whom she dedicated her life.
After suffering a major stroke in 2015, she was lovingly cared for by her family and two special caregivers, her niece, Bonnie Dell, and Kimberly Sanders, to whom her family is forever grateful for their compassion and resolve to make the final years of her life meaningful and happy.
Nancy was a loving, dedicated wife to her late husband, John, who preceded her in death in 2012.
She is survived by her four daughters, Mary Ann (Michael) Spanovich of Morgantown, Janet (David) Bocchini of Naples, Fla., Beth Masuga of Waynesburg, and Carol (Scott) Lindee of Mokena, Ill.; her grandchildren, Lauren (Drew) Finley, Mark (Carlin) Bocchini, John Bocchini, Cory Spanovich, and Sam (Jordon) Spanovich; her two great-granddaughters, Aria and Mila Finley; her sister-in-law, Dolores Doody of Waynesburg; and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.
Her family is comforted knowing that Nancy is together with her beloved husband, John; her parents, Frank and Frances Turina; her father- and mother-in-law, John and Elizabeth Masuga; her two brothers, Frank Turina and his wife, Josephine, and Paul Turina and his wife, Ann; and her brother-in-law, Robert Doody.
A memorial mass will be celebrated in Nancy’s honor on her 90th birthday, Friday, October 22, at 11 a.m. in St. Hugh’s Roman Catholic Church, 408 Route 88, Carmichaels, PA 15320, followed by burial at Laurel Point Cemetery.
Funeral arrangements are being made by The Lesako Funeral Home Inc., 204 Dowlin Avenue, Carmichaels, PA 15320.