McKeesport: Late councilwoman’s sister appointed to fill her seat

By JEFF STITT

jstitt@yourmvi.com

Jill Lape — the sister of late McKeesport Councilwoman Jamie Brewster Filotei— is carrying on her family’s legacy of public service to the city.

During Wednesday’s in-person meeting, council unanimously voted to appoint Lape to fill the council seat that has been vacant since the middle of last month as a result of Brewster Filotei’s death.

Brewster Filotei, who had been serving as council vice president and was a recently retired McKeesport Area School District teacher, passed away May 12 following a long battle with non-small cell lung carcinoma, a form of cancer. She was 46.

Lape and Brewster Filotei are the daughters of Linda Brewster and McKeesport-based Democratic state Sen. Jim Brewster, who served as McKeesport council president for seven years before being elected as the city’s mayor in 2004. He was elected to the state Senate in 2011.

Lape’s husband Jeff, her parents, Brewster Filotei’s son TJ Filotei and her husband Kenny Filotei and several close family friends watched in support as she took the oath of office Wednesday night before McKeesport-based Magisterial District Judge Eugene F. Riazzi Jr. 

Lape, a third-grade teacher at MASD’s Twin Rivers Elementary School, will serve out the remainder of Brewster Filotei’s current term, which expires at the end of 2021.

Mayor Michael Cherepko said he thinks Lape is the perfect person to fill the council seat.

“Jamie was a very special person. She just truly loved McKeesport. If there is anyone who could love this city more than me it was Jamie,” Cherepko said. “She was so selfless in everything she has done as a resident of the city, as a teacher and through her position on council. You never heard anyone say anything bad or have a harsh word about Jamie. Her passing is a tremendous loss for our city.

“The hard part is, When these things happen you have to now find somebody to fill her seat. I have had the privilege to work with Jill as a teacher, she sits on the McKeesport Community Fund Board and she has the utmost professionalism and a passion for our community. I found it very, very fitting and so appropriate to give Jamie’s sister, who already contributes to this city so much, the chance to try and fulfill Jamie’s legacy.”

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