Sharpsburg VFD recalls Peggy Panza as heart and soul of Ladies Auxiliary

Tawnya Panizzi | Friday, May 14, 2021 11:31 a.m.

Peggy Panza, former president of the Sharpsburg Ladies Auxiliary, passed away in April 2021 at 98.

Members of the Sharpsburg Volunteer Fire Department are recalling the ‘heart and soul’ of the Ladies Auxiliary, Peggy Panza, who passed away April 24 at the age of 98.

“We were her firefighters,” fire President Dennis Lane said. “She made sure we were taken care of.”

Panza served as Auxiliary President for nearly 30 years. Her diminutive stature belied her strength and leadership.

She ran the volunteer group from the lobby of the Sharpsburg Towers, where she lived for nearly four decades.

“We just want to help this community,” Panza told the Tribune-Review in 2016.

“We love all those firemen. We’re so attached to them and we don’t want the auxiliary to go under.”

Panza was an Ohio native who raised her family in Sharpsburg. She joined the Auxiliary in 1968 when membership was a robust 35 people. The women turned out anytime the fire whistles blew. They cooked for the firefighters, provided coffee to emergency crews and helped with residents displaced by fire.

Sharpsburg VFD Chief Lou Costanzo said the Auxiliary was Panza’s passion, well after it was clear that numbers were dwindling.

“She kept things going because she wanted to help us,” Costanzo said.

Lane said firefighters felt the same kind of love for Panza.

“It was a sad day going to her funeral, but every member of the department showed up for it.”

Panza led the Auxiliary in its heyday, when members hosted fundraising dinners, holiday luncheons and a monthly bingo to raise money for the fire department.

They sold lottery tickets, had a booth at Guyasuta Days and showed up in the middle of the night if the sirens wailed. Her bedroom was routinely filled with items in storage for the Auxiliary’s next event.

“She was our most devoted Auxiliary member,” Lane said.

“She was a very vocal lady and a spitfire when you got her riled up, as some of us did so well.”

“She loved ‘her men and women’ as she called us, and was even considered to be the fire mom of the members,” Lane said. “Everyone knew Peg was our ‘Lady’ and treated her with the utmost respect. We all loved her dearly and we will miss her so.”