Alice Lisak

Alice Patricia (Parker) Lisak died peacefully the morning of Sunday, May 24, 2020 in her home with her husband Tom and sons Tom and Matt by her side.  Alice’s immediate family was made complete with Tom’s wife Michelle and their son Trey, and Matt’s wife Harlow and their children Sydney, Brady, and Drew.  Alice was preceded in death by her father Raymond Parker, mother Margaret (Adams) Parker, sister Doris (Parker) Heslop, niece Rey Heslop, niece Chelsea Parker, father-in-law John Lisak, mother-in-law Mary Lisak, and brother-in-law Paul Dolan.  She and Tom also have a large family of siblings and their spouses - Robin (Parker) Dolan, Ray and Michelle Parker, Robert Heslop, John and Marcia Lisak, Frank Lisak, as well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins.  This beautiful family was the center of Alice’s life.  She loved them immensely.

In lieu of flowers, donations are suggested to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank (https://www.pittsburghfoodbank.org/).  It broke Alice's heart to see long lines of people in need, as she opened her home to all.

At various times during Alice and Tom’s 50-year marriage, her parents, brother, sisters, and their families lived with them.  Seemingly every year there was someone new over for Thanksgiving - often friends of friends, which to Alice meant they were her friends too.  She often referred to her house as “Grand Central Station” due to the seemingly constant traffic of Tommy and Matt’s friends as they were growing up, but she never wanted it any other way.

Alice dedicated her life to her boys - She was a perennial school room mother, kept the baseball scorebook, and hosted numerous birthday parties and summer pool parties.  Alice adored her grandchildren.  She watched their favorite TV shows so she could discuss with them.  She knew their favorite candies, drinks, and foods and loved to overindulge them.  She played games with them, drew pictures and colored with them.  She attended every single event or ceremony at school, and no one could match her attendance record at the kids’ sporting events.  She lived by the motto, “Anything for my grandkids.”

Alice loved to travel with Tom and many times with the kids and grandkids (Hilton Head, Alaska, Jamaica, Bermuda, Bahamas, Vegas, Hawaii, Florida, New England, Canada).  She loved cruises but didn’t care about the destination and often never even left the ship.  Alice loved to read but also had the TV on from the second she got out of bed until she turned in for the night - Court TV, soaps, Judge Judy, and reruns of Matlock and Murder She Wrote by day; AGT, Idol, The Voice, DWTS, and The Bachelor by night.  She loved going to the movies with Tom, but she also watched around 5,000 movies at home (Dirty Dancing, Grease, West Side Story, Gone With the Wind, and White Christmas 1,000 times each).

Alice loved music (but couldn’t sing!) - Billy Joel, Elton, Michael Jackson, Celine, Whitney, Simon & Garfunkel and “hunks” like Elvis, Tom Jones, Barry Manilow, Bruce Springsteen, Phil Collins, Bon Jovi, and Luke Bryan.  When she found a live performance on TV/video that she liked, she watched it ad nauseam.  Alice loved bacon (by the pound), loved a good fight (and would pick one with anyone!).  She loved sports but not the underdog (except her beloved Duquesne Dukes basketball), citing favorites like Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, Joe Montana and the 49ers, the New York Yankees, and the Brady/Belichick era Patriots.  She despised Ben Roethlisberger.  Alice loved to talk (and talk and talk), and she loved her casino games and word game apps on her cell phone and iPad.  She latched onto favorite drinks for years at a time until she found the next one - Fuzzy Navel, Sea Breeze, Bay Breeze, Sex on the Beach, Moscow Mule.

Alice was the world’s slowest (and possibly worst) Pictionary drawer.  Any time she bought food, she got enough to feed an army.  She ironed everything including jeans, sheets, and underwear.  Her feet seemed to find anything she could possibly trip over, and she is famous for her laughs that quickly turned to uncontrollable snorts.  She got picked on by friends and family for all these things, but she was always a good sport about it (snort snort).

Alice lived a full life surrounded by the family that loved her dearly.  For over half a century, Tom and Alice moved as one.  Seeing one without the other was a very rare sight.  Their love and devotion to each other was truly remarkable and is an inspiration.  She is terribly missed and always will be, but her memory will live on in her legacy of love and family. Arrangements entrusted to the Edward P. Kanai Funeral Home 500 Greenfield Ave. 15207.

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