City, Region Lay Gergely to Rest

Procession winds through community he never left; Shapiro: ‘We are broken-hearted’

By Jason Togyer
The Tube City Almanac
January 24, 2025
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro delivers remarks during Friday’s funeral for State Rep. Matt Gergely at First Free Evangelical Church in McKeesport. (Official photo courtesy Office of the Governor of Pennsylvania)

An honor guard of Allegheny County constables bearing the U.S. and Pennsylvania flags led the final procession into church for one of the city’s favorite sons.

On Friday, more than 400 people attended the funeral of State Rep. Matt Gergely of McKeesport, who died Sunday aged 45.

In addition to Gergely’s friends and family, mourners at First Free Evangelical Church near Renziehausen Park included Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, State Sens. Jay Costa and Nick Pisciottano, McKeesport City Council, Clairton Mayor Richard Lattanzi, and many members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

We are “broken-hearted for a life that was cut way too short,” Shapiro said. “Matt was a man who lived his life with purpose, and kindness, and decency for others.

McKeesport Mayor Michael Cherepko — a lifelong friend of Gergely’s — and retired state Sen. Jim Brewster escorted his casket to the altar.

Rev. Michele A. Nagle, pastor of McKeesport Area Shared Ministry UMC, Beulah Park Campus, offered an opening prayer, and Rev. Nick Stephanovic, pastor of Bridge City Church in White Oak, delivered a eulogy.

Stephanovic’s eulogy included words written by Gergely’s son, Mason.

“I want to thank you dad, but just calling you ‘dad’ doesn’t express what an amazing person you were,” Mason Gergely wrote, adding that he would always remember rapping with his father to “those old Jay-Z songs we haven’t heard for like six years,” which elicited a loud laugh from the congregation.

“I hope you know that your sons loved you with everything we had,” Mason Gergely wrote.

Stephanovic singled out Gergely’s brother, former state Rep. Marc Gergely, who held the same legislative seat from 2003 to 2017. “He was so proud of you, and so proud to be sitting in your seat,” Stephanovic said.

An honor guard of Pennsylvania state constables stands watch over a hearse before Friday’s funeral procession. (Tube City Almanac photo)

In his own eulogy, Shapiro said that mourners in First Free were being joined by “people in prayer all across Pennsylvania.”

“Matt was always there for his community and for those he cared so much about,” he said. “Matt dedicated his life to making McKeesport a better place for all. He took the hopes and dreams and needs of this community with him to Harrisburg.”

Gergely, an active volunteer in a variety of organizations, including McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center, “seemed like he was everywhere,” Shapiro said. “He would check in with people just to see if you were all right — and if you weren’t, he would try to make you better. Matt worked to solve problems every day and his life will have a lasting impact.”

Media coverage of Gergely’s death has focused on the political implications, with the Pennsylvania House of Representatives now tied at 101-101.

Shapiro said Gergely was “more than just one vote,” noting that Gergely had gotten two pieces of important legislation passed in his brief time in office, and that he had cast the deciding vote on other important bills.

“His one vote led to so much change and progress,” Shapiro said, calling on mourners to carry on Gergely’s legacy by channeling their grief “into love, into uplifting and supporting other people.”

“Others will carry on his work,” he said. “We owe that to Matt.”

The governor closed by directly addressing Gergely’s sons, Mason and Jarrett, seated in the first pew. “Boys, I hope you know that people who don’t even know your father are better off because he walked on the face of the Earth,” Shapiro told them.

Prior to his 2023 election to the state house, Gergely worked as the city’s administrator and chief revenue officer, as well as business manager for the school district.

Speaker of the House Joanna McClinton lamented that she had “less than two full years” to serve with Gergely in Harrisburg and compared his impact to that of the title characters in the 1980s TV series “Touched By An Angel.”

Gergely, like those TV angels, was in her life only briefly, McClinton said, and then vanished before she could properly thank him for his work.

“When I think about Matt, I only have good memories,” she said. “We were all touched by Matt — changed by Matt — in just a short period of time. He led with love and he walked with humility and mercy.”

McClinton then led the mourners in a standing ovation for Gergely’s mother Sofia; brother Marc; wife Holly; and sons and told them, “We will not forget (you) when we leave here today.”

Members of the McKeesport public works department, led by Public Works Director Jeff DiPerna (foreground), pause in respect for Gergely’s funeral procession as it passes on Market Street, Downtown. (Tube City Almanac photo)

Following the hour-long service, a procession of more than 30 vehicles, led by McKeesport police, wound its way through Renzie Park, the city’s Downtown, and Gergely Riverfront Park, named for Gergely’s uncle, McKeesport Councilman Richard Gergely, who died in 1984 at age 43.

After passing under an archway formed by ladder trucks from Duquesne and Rainbow volunteer fire departments, the procession turned up Fifth Avenue toward McKeesport & Versailles Cemetery. Interment was private.

During his eulogy, Stephanovic recalled two catchphrases that “Gerg” often used with close friends — “My man!” from the movie “Training Day” and another one, “thorough in every borough,” from the Jay-Z song “Feelin’ It.”

“Gerg may have physically left this Earth, but his memory remains strong with us,” Stephanovic said. “He is thoroughly loved in every borough of our hearts.”

Jason Togyer is editor of Tube City Almanac and volunteer executive director of Tube City Community Media Inc.

Originally published January 24, 2025.

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