It is with deep sadness that we announce the peaceful passing of Mrs. Stella Rummel on September 10, 2020, after a years-long battle with cancer. She was 72.

The daughter of Greek immigrants from the Island of Rhodes, Stella was born on October 29, 1947, in Farrell, PA. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Youngstown State University in 1969 and later with a master's degree from Westminster College. She loved every moment of her thirty-five-year career as a teacher in Farrell, where she taught kindergarten, third, and fourth grades, and Title I reading and math. She was also head teacher at John Hetra Elementary School. Stella loved teaching children, and came to mentor many of them as her own children.

Stella enjoyed spending time with her friends from her swim group and playing cards with her cadre of fellow retired teachers, who would loudly laugh and reminisce about the good times they shared together. Most of all, she adored the time she spent with her lifelong friends, Donna Dekanich, Lorraine Mondich, and Gail Shuttleworth, who Stella met while they both taught at Farrell. Known as a bit of a matchmaker, Stella introduced Gail to her husband Bill, also a close family friend. Stella was also known to offer unsolicited advice on home décor, often to the delight or chagrin of her friends.

But the love of her life was her husband Allan, whom she met in 1969 and married on August 19, 1972. More than a husband and wife, Stella and Allan were life partners. They could often be seen holding spontaneous picnics together near lakes across the Valley. The two were inseparable, rarely spending more than a few hours apart even in her final days. She considered her wedding day and the days her children Blaine and Maria were born as the happiest days of her life.

Stella loved to cruise, including a 2012 trip to the Greek Islands with her family to celebrate her and Allan's 40 ^th wedding anniversary. She served the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Farrell in a number of roles, including President of the Ladies Philoptochos Society. Her service was made all the more meaningful when she did it with her dear friends Fanny Joanow, Katie Sass and Jan Economides. In 2019, she and Allan received the Saint Photios Award for years of service to the church.

Stella is survived by her husband Allan, her son Blaine Rummel and his husband Oscar Galan, her daughter Maria McElhinny and her husband Ryan, her stepson Robert Rummel and his wife Kathy, her sister-in-law Elizabeth Sava, and her two adorable granddaughters Quinn and Avery. She is preceded in death by her mother and father Maria and George Sava, her brother and sister-in-law John and Rosemary Sava, and her brother Sam Sava.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Farrell, the American Cancer Society, or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Given the pandemic, the family will host a small private service and will hold a larger celebration of her life when it is safe to do so. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.McGonigleFuneralHomeandCrematory.com .

Interment: America's Cemetery, Hermitage.