Obituary of Joseph Elliott "Magoo" McGarry

Joseph Elliott “Magoo” McGarry, 78, of Canonsburg, peacefully passed away surrounded by his wife and family at his home on Monday, April 3, 2023, after a valiant battle with cancer He was born February 11, 1945, in York PA, the son of the late Clarence and Rebecca McGarry. For several years, he lived in York and Philadelphia and at a young age his family moved to Canonsburg. He is preceded in death by his first wife, Rose Spadaro McGarry and his nephew, Louis Spadaro. In his younger years he was an active member of the Boy Scouts of America. He was an avid bowler and participated in leagues with the SNPJ, the White Eagles and the City League. Joseph was a 1963 graduate of Canon McMillan High School and attended Slippery Rock University. He graduated from SRU in 1968 with a degree in Education, majoring in Social Studies. He continued his education at Slippery Rock where he received his Master’s Equivalent. For 2½ years he was the swim team Manager and during that time Slippery Rock won State Championships. He is a member of Alpha Chi Rho fraternity and has remained very close to many of his fraternity brothers. Joe enjoyed performing in AXP Fraternity Skits. He loved attending his 50th class reunion at Slippery Rock in 2018 and until recently went up for every Alumni Weekend and Homecoming. After his graduation from Slippery Rock, he taught Social Studies at Canon-McMillan for 36½ years until his retirement in 2004. During his teaching career he taught swimming as part of an after-school program. He was a PIAA swimming officiant and judged many of the local high school swim meets. He closely followed Canon-McMillan athletics, especially wrestling, and even traveled with friends to the State Wrestling Tournaments. In the past he served on the Community Scholarship Foundation of Canon-McMillan. He loved his students and would always take time to ask about them and their families. His wife, Carmina, was always amazed by how he would recognize students that he taught so many years before and, in many cases, he taught multiple generations in the same family. Joe served the Canonsburg Community as a Councilman for the Borough from 2012 until 2020. During that time, he held numerous positions including Vice-Chairman of Council, and sat on the Public Safety Committee, the Negotiations Committee, and the Public Works Committee. Joe has been a Steelers season ticket holder since 1970 and loved attending the games with his 3 buddies, John, Wayne, and Pete. He was also a huge Penguins fan. His second love was his Philadelphia sports teams. He was so excited when the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017. He enjoyed playing the lottery and going to the Casino for fun with family and friends. He especially looked forward to spending afternoons with his brother-in-law, Joe, and the Gigliotti cousins, Ross, Ernie, Ed, Jeff and his friend, Sam, laughing, eating, and gambling. He was a lifetime member of the Slovene National Benefit Society (SNPJ), the Polish National Association, the Polish National Union Club and a member of the Italian-American Cultural & Heritage Society. On September 24, 2011, he married Carmina V. Vitullo who survives. He is also survived by his in-laws, Joseph and Kathleen (Werner) Vitullo, nephew, Timothy Vitullo (Courtney O’Connell), niece, Nicole Gaetano (Anthony), and great nephew, Lorenzo. Being an only child, he was thrilled to become part of the large Italian Vitullo and Gigliotti families and enjoyed the family gatherings and traditions. He will be deeply missed by Maria Crocco, John and Corrine Spadaro, and especially the Kania family who have adopted him as their brother, uncle and great uncle, and far too many friends to mention. He is also survived by his cousins, James Campbell (Mary Tracy), Beth Atkinson (Harry), step-grandsons, Lucas and Landon Strimel, nephew, Michael Spadaro (Jennifer), great niece, Meranda Spadaro (Michael Hitzges) and great nephews, Julian and Dominick Spadaro. He is the last of his immediate family. Joe was always upbeat and had an amazing sense of humor that lit up any room he entered. Melanie Shawn in her book Sweet Reunion about her father put Joe’s philosophy about life perfectly. Joe believed “He never met a stranger. Every person in the world, to him, was just a friend he had not met yet. He always saw the good in people. Sometimes, that is all he would see, even if no one else could see it.” Friends received on Thursday, April 6, from 4-8 pm and Friday, April 7, 1-3 pm and 5-8 pm, at the Warchol Funeral Home, Inc., 3060 Washington Pike, Bridgeville (412-221-3333). Trisagion Service will be held at the funeral home on Friday evening at 8 pm. A Funeral Service will be held Saturday, April 8, at 12:30 pm, at All Saints Greek Orthodox Church, 601 East McMurray Road, Canonsburg. Prior to the funeral service, additional visitation will be held at the Church from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. Burial will follow the funeral service at Queen of Heaven Cemetery, McMurray. In lieu of flowers or blankets, donations are requested to Slippery Rock University where a Scholarship in memory of Joe will be established. Please indicate on the memo line of your check in memory of Joseph E. McGarry. Checks should be made to SRU Alumni Association, 1 Morrow Way, Slippery Rock, PA 16057. Donations may also be made to the Washington County Humane Society, 1527 PA-136, Eighty Four, PA 15330. Once again, place Joe’s name in the memo line. Joe’s greatest wish is for everyone to live as he did; make every stranger your friend and look for the good in everyone. View and add condolences at: www.warcholfuneralhome.com