North Huntingdon woman loved to sing
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Helen Medic loved to sing, whether it was classical music, operas or church hymns.
Her voice was so good that she was selected as the soloist at Duquesne High School for her graduating class of 1941, said her daughter, Joyce Yovetich of North Huntingdon.
“She was always singing. She would sing to her records,” Yovetich said.
Mrs. Medic also sang at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church in McKeesport in her youth and then Holy Ascension Serbian Orthodox Church in Youngwood, Yovetich said.
Helen Vojnovich Medic of North Huntingdon died Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital, Greensburg. She was 95.
She was born Dec. 17, 1923, in Duquesne, the oldest child and only daughter of the late Eli and Mary Stipanovich Vojnovich, immigrants from Serbia.
The Duquesne of Mrs. Medic’s youth was a booming steel town, thanks to the giant Duquesne Works operated by U.S. Steel Corp. Her father ran Butch’s Wonder Bar, which catered to the steelworkers.
Mrs. Medic would tell her children that Duquesne in those days had a top-notch school, one that had an opera in which she shined with her great singing voice.
“Duquesne had such a (good) reputation that if you graduated from Duquesne, you had your pick of schools,” Yovetich recalled her mother saying.
Supported by her mother to continue her education, Mrs. Medic went to Robert Morris School of Business in Pittsburgh, graduating in 1942. She earned an honorable mention in secretarial accounting.
After graduation, she worked for an attorney for Philips Mine and Mill Co. She also was a civilian employee for the Army Air Force in the supply department at the old Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin. She also worked for the Penn Transit Bus Co. in McKeesport.
She met her future husband, Peter Medic of North Huntingdon, at a Westinghouse Electric company picnic at Kennywood amusement park.
The couple married in 1946, and she moved to the North Huntingdon farm that her husband’s family operated in the village of Shafton. They raised cows, chickens, pigs, turkeys and sheep and grew corn on the farm, where she lived for the remainder of her life, Yovetich said. Her husband died in 1986.
Mrs. Medic put her business education to use on the farm, serving as secretary, treasurer and income tax preparer, Yovetich said.
Yovetich recalled that her mother was a great cook and hosted her extended family for the holidays, cooking for 80 to 90 people.
The family was able to have a last gathering with their matriarch for Orthodox Christmas on Jan. 7, Yovetich said.
Mrs. Medic
Services will be held at noon Friday at St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Church, McKeesport. Interment will be in Irwin Union Cemetery. Alfieri Funeral Home Inc. of Wilmerding is in charge of arrangements.
Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.