In Memory of Olga Guma: Tribute & Obituary

Olga L. Guma 1921 -2020

Olga Anna Michelina Lupia was born in Glendale, New York, on June 5, 1921, the middle child in a large Italian-American family, and died peacefully in Chandler, Arizona on October 8, 2020 at age 99.

The daughter of Bruno Lupia and Amelia Guidi, Olga grew up in Queens in the 1920s and 30s, graduated from St. Joseph’s College with a degree in romance languages, and subsequently studied at Columbia University. She remained fluent in Italian, French and Spanish throughout her life. After college she worked for her father at Metro Coat and Suit, his Manhattan-based women’s wear business. In late 1940 she began a half-century relationship with a young Italian lawyer, F. William “Bill” Guma. Although World War II intervened, they waited five years, writing love letters and meeting when they could, and married on January 26, 1946.

Over the next three decades, Olga balanced work with raising two children, Gregory William and Andrea Marie, and supporting Bill’s career in Republican politics and state government. With a home in Flushing, Queens, they maintained an active social life that included ballroom dancing, theater, travel, and sports. Meanwhile, her administrative skills led to responsible positions with an architectural firm and a New York Michelin tire franchise, as well as organizing large charity fashion events.

After Bill’s retirement from the New York Supreme Court, and his subsequent illness, Olga took the lead in their move to Arizona. She established a new household in Ahwatukee with Andrea and her daughter, Amanda. Generous, social, sweet, and open-minded, Olga also continued dancing, kept in touch with past friends, and made new ones. For 20 years she lived at Las Palmas in Mesa, and, in 2019, moved to Brookdale, a senior community in Chandler. 

Olga was predeceased by her husband Bill Guma, her brothers Raymond, Joseph, Albert and Bruno Jr., and her daughter, Andrea Smith. She is survived by her son Greg Guma, grandchildren Jesse Lloyd Guma and Amanda Furey, several nieces and nephews, and great grandchild Margot Grace Guma. Private burial services were held at 1 p.m. on Friday, October 30, at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona on Cave Creek Road in Phoenix, where she is interred with her husband.