CPA was former financial analyst for Westinghouse

SUSAN DIGIROLAMO | April 5, 1953 - Feb. 28, 2019

Susan DiGirolamo, the recently retired chief financial officer for Lutheran Senior Life senior living communities, died of cancer Thursday at her Indiana Township home.

Mrs. DiGirolamo, 65, a native of Lower Burrell, had a distinguished career in finance, at one point working as a financial analyst for Westinghouse and later working at the Stokes Kelly and Hinds CPA firm where she performed auditing and consulting work for nonprofit nursing homes.

“I think the overarching theme for her was taking care of people, providing services to help people. That’s why she connected to those things,” said Don DiGirolamo, her husband of 42 years.

After graduating from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Susan DiGirolamo became a certified public accountant and took the job with Westinghouse.

Her husband’s job with U.S. Steel prompted a move to Ohio in 1980. Wanting to continue working while also caring for their three young sons, Mrs. DiGirolamo taught accounting classes at Lorain County Community College during that period until the family returned to Pittsburgh in 1988.

She joined Stokes Kelly and Hinds once back in Pittsburgh and later was controller for the Contact Pittsburgh agency in Blawnox before finishing her career as CFO for Lutheran Senior Life Services in 2017.

Don DiGirolamo said his wife always had an ability to work with numbers, and in 2014 she was nominated by her peers as chief financial officer of the year for Western Pennsylvania.

In addition to her full-time work, Susan DiGirolamo served on the State Board of the American Association of University Women and was president of the ParentTeacher Organization at Hartwood Elementary School in Indiana Township, where her sons attended.

She also served as CCD program coordinator at St. Timothy Church, since closed, and on the board of directors of St. Joseph High School in Natrona Heights. She also was Eucharistic Minister at St. Padre Pio Parish in Harmarville.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. DiGirolamo is survived by her sons, Matthew DiGirolamo of O’Hara, Stephen DiGirolamo of Indiana Township and Benjamin DiGirolamo of Columbus, Ohio; a sister, Christine Quigley of Destin, Fla.; a brother, Peter Quigley of East Stroudsburg, Pa.; and three grandchildren.

A Prayers of Transfer Service will be held at 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Rusiewicz Funeral Home in Lower Burrell, 3124 Leechburg Road at Alder Street. A Christian Funeral Mass will follow at 10 a.m. in St. Margaret Mary Church, 3055 Leechburg Road, Lower Burrell.

Interment will be at Greenwood Mausoleum, also in Lower Burrell.