Leda DeGusipe Gismondi
Uniontown
Leda DeGusipe Gismondi, 102, passed away peacefully and surrounded by loved ones Friday, December 26, 2025. Leda was born August 3, 1923 in Edenborn, to Carmen and Palmarosa Fiori DeGusipe.
She was predeceased by her beloved husband, James F. “Jimmy” Gismondi, Sr.; her adoring son, James F. Gismondi Jr.; her brothers, Marco, Paul “Banj”, and Ferdinand “Guy” DeGusipe; and her sister, Margaret Revak.
She is survived by her loving children, Janine Gismondi (John Koritko), John Gismondi (Lisa), and Julie Gismondi (John Schaal); seven grandchildren, six great- grandchildren, and one great-grandchild on the way; and many nieces, nephews and dear friends.
Her parents immigrated to this country from Italy in 1912 and instilled in their children a very proud Italian heritage while growing up in a “company house” in Edenborn, a coal patch hamlet populated by other working class families of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds. Despite being raised during the Great Depression, Leda and her siblings wanted for little as they were reared in a home filled with love, respect, and “family first” values.
After graduating from German Township High School in 1941 and advancing in a career which started at GC Murphy’s and then moved on to Montgomery Ward, Leda decided, as she often said, to “trade it all in for an apron” when she married local sports writer and broadcast personality, Jimmy Gismondi. Their household on Byrer Avenue, where Leda lived from 1951 until her death, eventually grew to include four children, Jim, Janine, John and Julie. It was a home filled with unconditional love, where the children’s well-being was always the priority. The household, and in particular Leda’s kitchen, was also the epicenter for the many enduring friendships she enjoyed with her contemporaries as well as many of her children’s friends. It was a venue that spawned lifelong memories of interesting conversations, laughter, advice and tears, and one that always provided the opportunity of a home- cooked meal.
In the mid-1970s, after the sudden passing of her husband, Jimmy when she was only 51 years old, Leda, with the support of family and friends, persevered and eventually returned to the workforce as a customer service officer at Fayette Bank, a job she thoroughly enjoyed until retiring in April 1991.
She had the pleasure of witnessing the marriages of all of her children, the birth of seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She most enjoyed the company of her family, both immediate and extended, at countless gatherings and celebrations, as well as precious time with friends catching up on personal news and current events, shopping, traveling or just sharing time over a cup of coffee. She particularly enjoyed playing host to a post-Midnight Mass Christmas Eve party for all of her children’s friends who looked forward to the annual gathering as an opportunity to reconnect with “Leda.”
Outside of her family and work, Leda’s passions were wide and varied, including everything from stylish clothes, home decorating, the stock market and, in her later years, attendance at daily Mass.
An excellent seamstress, she was renowned for the many beautiful gowns she personally created for the annual Fayette County Heart Ball. Her association with the Heart Ball went far beyond the sartorial as she was a founding member of the event and one of its leading organizers for over 20 years. This devotion to community service was typical of Leda. In addition to the Heart Association, throughout her lifetime she had leadership roles in her church, her children’s schools, the Fayette County Blind Association, The Uniontown Public Library and various investment clubs.
But it was her service to the American Heart Association that was particularly noteworthy, something which was recognized in 2024 when that organization named her as its Volunteer of the Century for her 65 years of work on its behalf.
Leda’s children are immensely appreciative that she was able to be an active part of their lives for so many years, and they are forever grateful to the private caregivers who attended to Leda with diligence, kindness, and constant engagement, and to her many friends who made such an effort to stay connected with Leda in her later years.
Visitation will be at the DeGUSIPE FUNERAL HOME, 65 N. Gallatin Avenue, Uniontown, PA 15401, from 1 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, December 30. A Funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, December 31, in Saint Therese de Lisieux Roman Catholic Church, 61 Mill Street, Uniontown.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations, in Leda’s memory, to the American Heart Association at https://www.heart.org or by mail to the American Heart Association, 444 Liberty Avenue, Suite 1300, Pittsburgh, PA 15222; or, to the James F. Gismondi Learning Center at the Uniontown Library, 24 Jefferson Street, Uniontown, PA 15401.