“Passionate” and “determined” are two words her friends and family used most often to describe Marcella McGrogan, co-founder of the Historical Society of Carnegie.
“The center of her world was Carnegie,” Dan McGrogan said of his mother, describing her love of the Pittsburgh borough.
McGrogan died Aug. 12 at St. Clair Hospital in Pittsburgh after a short illness. She was 91.
She and her husband, Daniel J. McGrogan Jr., founded the historical society in 1990 in preparation for Carnegie’s centennial celebration in 1994. She went on to help compile the borough history published to mark the 100th anniversary of the borough. She remained active as president of the historical society until 2013. Daniel McGrogan died in 1999.
“She was passionate about Carnegie,” Mayor Jack Kobistek said. “She worked very hard to preserve its history, but she had interests beyond that.”
He called her a model citizen involved in all aspects of her town. “She loved eating at local restaurants and attending every event,” the mayor said. “She supported every other nonprofit in the community.”
McGrogan passed on her love of history and her town to her 11 children. Three still live in the borough, and her son Dan is now president of the historical society his parents co-founded.
“Marcella” was like “Madonna” — no last name was needed to identify her in Carnegie, Maggie Forbes said of her friend. Forbes, executive director of the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall, described McGrogan as the go-to source for local history.
“If I needed a piece of arcane information, I called Marcella,” Ms. Forbes said. “If she didn’t know the answer off the top of her head, she was able to locate it quickly.”
McGrogan was also the driving force behind the society’s acquisition in 1998 of a building at 1 W. Main St. that now serves as a museum and archives. The four-story Husler Building was constructed in 1896 and has been designated a historic landmark by the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation.
Joan Harbin, a former recording secretary and current board member for the historical society, spoke of McGrogan’s determination, knowledge and attention to detail.
“She knew what she wanted done and how she wanted it done,” Harbin said. “We did not throw anything out, and she knew where everything was.”
McGrogan was the daughter of the late Charles E. and Louisa Daube Herman. She attended St. Joseph Catholic School and graduated from St. Luke High School, both in Carnegie. She attended Seton Hill College. She worked for 20 years as a library associate at the University of Pittsburgh’s Hillman Library, retiring in 1989.
In addition to her son Dan, of Mt. Lebanon, her survivors include sons Frank of Bethel Park, Kevin of Belleville, Michigan, Richard of Pooler, Georgia, Bob of Pittsburgh, and Thomas and Jerry, both of Carnegie; daughters Kathie McGrogan of Carnegie, Gwen Popovich of Crafton, Nancy Zatezalo of Brentwood, and Marcie McGrady of Collier; 16 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.
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