Margaret J. "Peg" Bisirri (nee Kuscin) passed away December 3, 2022. Beloved wife of the late Emidio. Loving mother to Joseph (Maureen), and Barbara Marquart (Christ). Cherished Nana to Nina, Christopher, Marie, Stefan, Joseph and the late Marissa and Elizabeth. Beloved GG of Ian.
Peg was born to Barbara and Peter Kuscin on May 24th, 1930. One of six children, she grew up in South and Southwest Philadelphia. She graduated from South Philadelphia High School for Girls in 1948, worked as a legal secretary and then for the Signal Corps. As a young woman,
Peg's passion was dancing and she often went with friends to dance halls six nights a week. It was at a dance where she met Emidio "Millie" Bisirri, whom she married six months later on June 21, 1952. Millie was a master tool and die maker at Heinz Corporation, Kelsey - Hayes
Division, but he also grew and sold pansies. Together, they built four greenhouses and began growing and selling vegetable plants, bedding annuals and pansies. Bisirri Pansy Gardens eventually grew to include eight greenhouses and remained a vital neighborhood business for
more than 60 years until Millie's death in 2017. In 1959, they welcomed their son Joseph into their lives, followed by their daughter Barbara five years later in 1964.
Peg was very much a modern-minded woman. She embraced technology a time when many people her age are unwilling to learn new things. Some of the activities she enjoyed most later in life were playing the slots at casinos with her friends, watching news broadcasts and Hallmark
movies and spending time with her daughter. She was known for making personalized, uniquely-decorated greeting cards for friends and family for birthdays, holidays and just about every other occasion. Everyone loved receiving her cards because they appreciated how much
thought and love went into making them. She made them feel special. Peg had a generous spirit and a kind heart, often worrying about the welfare of people she hardly knew. Until her last illness four months ago, she was living independently in her own home and still driving at the age of 92. She was proud of her age and would readily share it with strangers at the slightest provocation. From childhood, music was an important part of her life. She especially loved opera and attended numerous Andrea Bocelli and Il Volo concerts.
Attending the theater was another thing she loved to do. She was a subscriber at the Walnut Street Theater for more than 20 years.
Peg cared about social causes and was always a champion of the underdog but what she cared most deeply for was her family. She loved spending time with her daughter and her grandchildren and was thrilled when she became a great grandmother. Had you asked what
was her proudest accomplishment she would not have hesitated to say it was being a mother. She will be greatly missed by her family, friends and everyone else who was fortunate enough to
know her.
On Death
Then Almitra spoke, saying, We would ask now of Death.
And he said:
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;