Gertrude Callanan McCrum

GERTRUDE CALLANAN MCCRUM, departed from this life on Friday October 11, 2024, at the age of 94, from natural causes at the Providence Point nursing care center, where she was living in recent years. Gertrude was a life-long resident of Pittsburgh, living most of her life on Roycroft Avenue in Mount Lebanon. She was married to Robert “Bob” Terrence McCrum from 1953 until his passing in 1987. She was the loving Mother of James Patrick McCrum (deceased) and is survived by her sons Dennis Michael McCrum and Robert Timothy “Tim” McCrum, and her daughter, Mary Ann Tracy. She was the proud Grandmother of seven grandchildren: Megan McCrum Gerardi, Kelsey Anne Roob, Brian Timothy McCrum, Colleen Rose DeLaFleur, Shane Thomas McCrum, Jessica Tracy Scott and Daniel Tracy; and 19 great-grandchildren. During her last five challenging years, Gertrude appreciated the helpful assistance of her daughter-in-law of 43 years, Andrea Nourie McCrum.

            Gertrude was dedicated to her family, had a generous heart, and was naturally outgoing with people. She greatly enjoyed the humorous skits performed by her young grandchildren, typically at the Thanksgiving holidays. She loved her many family trips to the western Pennsylvania mountains, first at the Deer Valley YMCA camp, and then at her cottage on High Point Lake. Gertrude also enjoyed visiting her many Sullivan cousins in Erie, Pennsylvania, and outings on the beaches there at Presque Isle. She also kept in close touch with her many Callanan cousins in southern California, making several trips there in recent decades. She had an uncanny ability to recite the specific dates of family births, marriages, and deaths, dating back 75 years and more. She was an active member of St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church since 1964, participating in many parish functions, and forming many strong Christian friendships.  

            As a proud Irish American, Gertrude was pleased to visit the Old Country once later in her life. She remarked about how so many of the people there looked like her grandparents, aunts, and uncles!

            Gertrude had a strong work ethic, starting her first job as a secretary at her uncle Frank Callanan’s insurance business on the morning following her graduation from South Hills High School in 1948. As a young woman in the early 1950s, she was a secretary to a top executive at the Westinghouse corporation in downtown Pittsburgh. In much later years, she was a real estate agent for several decades, mostly with the Century 21 real estate firm. She possessed an unusually detailed knowledge of the many neighborhoods and backroads of the South Hills of Pittsburgh, which was an asset to her in that field, long before GPS systems were invented.

     Friends and family will be received at Laughlin Cremation & Funeral Tributes, 222 Washington Road, Mt. Lebanon, on Friday, October 18 from 3-5 PM. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in St. Paul of the Cross Parish – St. Anne Church 400 Hoodridge Drive, Castle Shannon, on Saturday, October 19 at 9:30 AM.