Friends mourn death of longtime MMIDA leader Lue Ann Pawlick

By TAYLOR BROWN
tbrown@yourmvi.com

Lue Ann Pawlick never met a stranger.
Both professionally, and personally, she loved deeply and cared about people whom she met in all walks of her life.
Pawlick, 60, of McMurray, formerly of Carmichaels, passed away Monday after a short, but courageous battle with cancer, her friends said.
She was diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer in December, about a week after her 60th birthday. Friends say she took her diagnosis in stride, never letting the disease take away her charismatic, eclectic personality or wiping the larger than life smile from her face.
Though she did not live in the Mon Valley, her dedication and advocacy for small towns along the Monongahela River produced big results, with projects that will carry her legacy for years to come.
After graduating from California University of Pennsylvania, Pawlick spent her life making sure businesses thrived in the Mon Valley, largely in her role with the Middle Monongahela Industrial Development Association, which consolidated with the Mon Valley Progress Council in April 2016 to form the Mon Valley Alliance.
The Middle Monongahela Industrial Development Association, formed in 1966, developed successful business parks in Donora, Speers and Fallowfield Township, with Pawlick at the helm.
The Alta Vista Business Park, which is almost fully developed, was Pawlick’s vision nearly 20 years ago. More recently, she started and operated her own business, Frac Water Resources, which she started when she saw an opportunity rising in the oil and natural gas industry.
Now, with nearly every lot sold and as ground continues to break in Alta Vista, her legacy will no-doubt be remembered.
Her childhood friend, Linda Tasser, remembers riding on Earth movers with Pawlick when the business park was piles of dirt and rolling hills.
“I was there with her when it was just ground, just a bunch of hills,” she said. “We rode on Earth dozers, the biggest I have ever seen, and they led us right through and she told me all about her visit. It was a thrill.”
Tasser, who served on the MMIDA Advisory Board at the time, said her vision was big.
“It was just a concept, but there was nothing she couldn’t do,” Tasser said.
Washington County Commissioner Chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan called the business park, which is thriving, her “professional baby.”
“She was so proud of it,” Vaughan said. “And she should be, because her vision and what it has turned into, is quite impressive.”
As her professional relationships with those around her turned into deep personal connections, she become an independent, successful woman, who was determined to get the job done, no matter what it was.
“If she stuck her nose in it, she could figure it out,” Tasser said. “There was no stopping her. Watching her go from a 20-something executive, to this successful economic developer, it was nothing short of impressive.”
Kelly Jo Ellin, office manager of the Mon Valley Alliance, worked by her side for more than 20 years.
“Being a female in that industry, in that position back then, it was tough shoes to fill,” Ellin said. “But she did it. She overcame every obstacle that was ever thrown at her, she was truly an inspiration. She had the personality and the determination to get through it, and she did.”
“When it came to business, she was fearless. There was nothing she could not do if she set her mind to it,” Vaughan said.

The Paul M. Lesako Funeral Home Inc., 204 Dowlin Avenue, Carmichaels is handling arrangements.

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Lue Ann PawlickFriends mourn
death of longtime
MMIDA leader
Lue Ann Pawlick