Local woman killed in crash
A local award-winning journalist and devoted mother died late Sunday night, the victim of a deadly car accident. Sherri A. Petrucci McGibbon, 37, of West Penn Boulevard, North Union Township, died in a car accident that happened at 11:08 p.m. on Route 837 in West Mifflin. The family was returning from the Kennywood amusement park, according to McGibbon’s family.
Her husband, Alister, and the couple’s two children – Ashley, 12, and Andrew, 6, – were injured in the accident. Hospital officials said all three were in good condition Monday night.
McGibbon’s father, Jerry Petrucci, said the details of the accident are still unclear. The West Mifflin police captain who is investigating the crash could not be reached for comment Monday night.
“I just hope this was a bad accident and a bad mistake,” Petrucci said.
McGibbon worked as a reporter for the Herald-Standard for nearly a decade before taking a job as a substitute teacher with the Connellsville Area School District.
She won the Keystone Press Award for her story on the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority’s travel cost expenses that she and fellow reporter, Paul Sunyak, worked together on.
Sunyak said is suffering a “very deep sense of personal and professional loss” from the death of his friend. He dusted off tokens of the times when they worked together after hearing the news of her death.
“She was a very good reporter who could sniff out the right angle for a story,” said Sunyak. “She could see through the smokescreens and bouncing balls. She had very keen journalistic instincts.”
McGibbon also had a wonderful sense of humor, Sunyak recalled.
Through her humor, Sunyak saw the woman’s “softer side.” It wasn’t unusual for McGibbon to place a small heart-covered Valentines Day card or a napkin that read “We Love You” on Sunyak’s desk while he wasn’t there. He kept these mementoes and used them Monday to remember his friend.
“It’s just a supreme tragedy, to be only 37-years-old and to be cut down like this,” Sunyak said.
“We saw eye to eye more often than not,” he added. “(This) blows a hole in your heart.”
McGibbon graduated from the Penn State University with a degree in journalism, and fresh out of college, she landed a job at the Herald-Standard.
Mark O’ Keefe, now executive editor of the Herald-Standard, hired McGibbon.
“She was a good reporter and a very talented writer,” said O’Keefe. “She had a lot of passion for her job and took it very seriously.
“When she first came in, she was looking for a job. She just graduated from Penn State and had a lot of enthusiasm. …Over the years, I watched her grow into a good reporter,” he added.
“It’s a tragedy,” O’Keefe said of her death.
After her career at the Herald-Standard, McGibbon graduated from California University of Pennsylvania with a teaching degree and became a substitute teacher in the Connellsville Area School District.
Mother, Judy Petrucci, said her eldest daughter loved school, loved to write and loved being a reporter.
“She had lots of family and friends and relatives, a lot of people who loved her and will miss her,” said Judy.
Her sister, Stephanie Dean, described her late sister as a “very witty” person who “had a comeback for anything.” She said McGibbon was always with her children, whom she took to amusement parks and on vacations to places out-of-state and out-of-country since traveling is part of her husband’s job as an electrical designer.
From a family of three, McGibbon and her brother and sister were very close growing up.
Her 20-year-old brother, Aaron, called the tragedy of his sister’s death “a great loss for the family.
“It’s going to be very hard,” he said.
Many of Aaron Petrucci’s memories of his sister revolve around her alma mater of Penn State, where he is now at the main campus studying mechanical engineering.
One of the first things he remembers in his life is McGibbon graduating from the college. He was four or five-years-old at the time, he said.
“I saw her graduate,” said Aaron. “I never thought that she wouldn’t be there for mine.”
Aaron described his sister as “brilliant” and someone who “always gave good advice.”
His last stop before starting college was his sister’s house, where she offered him words of encouragement and wisdom before his big step forward.
“She was the easiest to talk to out of all my family members. She always understood where I was coming from and always gave great advice,” Aaron added. “She was so brilliant.
“I loved her. I always will,” he said.
One thing Aaron Petrucci emphasized about his sister was that she was “definitely happy.
“She was just loving life,” he said.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced by Dearth Funeral Home in New Salem.