Maureen Patricia Carr

Born October 16, 1930 to Mary J. and James Gibbons in Pittsburgh, PA, where she joyously lived for 62 years before retiring to Florida for her last 30 years.

Predeceased by her loving husband of 63 wonderful years, Walter F. Carr, Jr. and her devoted son, Michael Carr; sisters Helen Cromie and Jeanne Gregg; brothers-in-law Juan Munoz, Arthur Harmuth, Harry Cromie; nephews, Mark Cromie and Ben Huffman; niece, Janice Lalich.

Maureen met Walter on a blind date arranged by her sister, Helen, and brother-in-law, Harry, who had served in the US Army with Walter. It was love at first sight and they were married 3 months later. A graduate of St. Mary of the Mount HS, she held several secretarial positions until she had the great fortune to be hired by Allegheny Airlines when it made Pittsburgh its reservations center. She worked for Allegheny, and then US Airways, for 20 years as an International Reservations/Tour Specialist, then Gate Agent at PIT (meeting Mr. Rogers was most memorable), achieving Certified Travel Counselor certification of which she was very proud. Because of this newfound opportunity, Maureen and Walter traveled the world together over the next 40 years, making new friendships and memories wherever they went. Her friendliness and warmth always led to new stories about the people she met along her life’s journey. If you met her along the way, she knew your life’s history by the time she was finished talking with you! They made over 35 trips to Ireland alone, which led to a very special lifelong relationship with an Irish family, the O’Currys (meeting Josephine on a flight), who even named their last child after her! They also met Brian and Maureen Corder, their special friends from England, while searching for their retirement home in Florida.

She was the consummate volunteer at church, school and the St. Clair Memorial Hospital ER. She especially loved her work with the “Support Our Troops” program in St. Pete Beach. She loved making gift boxes for the troops and put a little bit of herself in each one. She enjoyed decorating for the parties at St. John Vianney Church, as well as always decorating the vestibule of their condo at Captiva Cay. She carried over her love of decorating to her new home at Lake Seminole Square, decorating the hallways of her floor for each holiday. She is, most assuredly, already trying to figure out how she can best decorate the Pearly Gates for St. Peter to welcome others!

Maureen loved Pittsburgh and her Irish heritage, spending much time and effort over the years searching her Irish ancestry. She was devoted to FAMILY, always there to support and provide care when needed; FRIENDS, loved to cook and entertain them; FAITH, a Eucharistic Minister and volunteer at St. John Vianney helping with their fundraising efforts.

She was creative and artistic and found new joy writing poetry while living through the challenging isolation of the COVID pandemic. She loved to shop, attend musical performances, dance and was an avid fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. She had great strength, a beautiful smile and absolutely loved life!

Maureen is survived by her daughter, Deborah (Jack) Ciak; sister and best friend, Audrey Munoz; daughter-in-law, Kathy Carr; granddaughters: Eva (Danny) Petrecca, Rachel Carr (Timothy) Devine, Grace North, Catherine (Bill) Beatty and Christina Ciak; grandsons: Daniel (Melissa), Luke, Alexander and Ryan Carr; great-grandchildren: Lily and Nico Petrecca, Joshua North, Natalie and William Beatty, Ronan Carr; nieces Kimmie Huffman, Kelly (Scott) Wilson, Pam Gregg, Melissa (Bobby) DePalma; nephews Sean and Gary Gregg.

A special thank you to the staff of Lake Seminole Square for their care, especially during the pandemic. And, many blessings to the extraordinary, compassionate staff of Suncoast Mid-Pinellas Hospice Care Center.

A Memorial Mass * will be celebrated on July 12, 2023 at 10:00am at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, 11565 66th Ave. North, Seminole, FL., followed by a gathering at Lake Seminole Square. Maureen will then be interred at Bay Pines National Cemetery with her beloved Walter.

*Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bscsem

*YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpsIOeezmbX_UDHwyfd1RrA/featured

The family suggests donations be made to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation (PO Box 515, Northampton, MA 01061-0515) in Maureen’s memory.