Irene Gulya Hora

It is with sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Irene Gulya Hora. Mom passed away on November 1, 2025, at 98 years of age.

Mom was an inspirational and multi-talented woman. She was an excellent baker, especially for holidays and weddings, baking hundreds of dozens of cookies for the wedding cookie tables of her children and grandchildren. Mom loved holidays, especially Christmas. All four of her children and their spouses, along with her thirteen grandchildren, celebrated around a table laden with her home cooked specialties and desserts. If you went away hungry, Mom would say that it was your own fault. Mom also enjoyed planting a garden, delighting in spying the first of a newly grown tomato or cucumber. Our mother was also a fun shopper. She enjoyed picking out outfits for whomever she was shopping with, bringing them to the dressing room, and offering her opinion which was spot on. She had an exceptional eye for fashion, and her appearance reflected her elegant taste. Polkas also brought her great joy, and it was not unusual for her to dance around her kitchen as she listened to the Sunday polka party. Into her early 90's, she frequented Willow Point, joining her friends in the pool for exercise class. Mom also kept tabs on the activities and achievements of her thirteen grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren, enjoying visits and celebrations of their accomplishments. She enjoyed people and engaged in conversation with all, connecting to them in kindness and compassion.

Our mother seized opportunities and achieved the goals she set out to conquer, providing her children and grandchildren with real life examples of you can do anything if you work for it. Mom was a beautiful woman whose femininity belied her resolute character and strength, strong in her Catholic faith and the knowledge of fairness in relationship with others. We were blessed to have known and loved her as mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Though we will miss her physical presence, her legacy lives on in us. We will find our mother in ourselves all the days of our lives.

She is survived by her daughters, Alexis (Lloyd) Fernandez, Patricia (Kenneth) Perez and Irene Hussar. In addition, she is survived by several grandchildren, Christian (Tonia) Fernandez, Susan (Graham) Turner, Daniel Fernandez, Kenneth, Mark and Douglas Perez, Kristen Altvatar, Nichole Hussar, Brian Hussar and Alexander and Eric Hora; as well as several great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her sister, Wilma Koday.

Irene was preceded in death by her mother, Mary Cibera Gulya and father, Gulya; husband Alexander J. Hora; son Alexander J. Hora Jr.; daughter-in-law Sherry Hora; granddaughters, Jennifer L. Hora and Kelly Lynn Gobbie; brothers, Andrew, John, George, and Charles Gulya; and sisters, Marie Harley, Ann Dimonde and Sophie Onufer.

She will live forever in the hearts of her loved ones. Vichnaya Pamyat (Eternal Memory).

Visitation was private as per Irene's wishes.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to the James C. Stump Funeral Home Inc., 580 Circle Drive, Rostraver Township (724-929-7934) https://www.jamesstumpfuneralhome.com