Diane LoGuidice, longtime Science Leadership Academy secretary, has died at 67

Diane LoGuidice, 67, of South Philadelphia, who helped create a warm and welcoming atmosphere at Science Leadership Academy as the Philadelphia magnet school’s founding secretary, died Aug. 28 of pancreatic cancer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

The daughter of Concetta and Raymond LoGiudice, Ms. LoGiudice grew up in a house at 13th and Tasker, close to St. Maria Goretti High School, her alma mater.

She stayed in South Philadelphia her whole life.

After graduation, Ms. LoGiudice went to work for an insurance company, then spent time doing office work for a local auto body shop. Eventually, she became an aide in the Philadelphia School District, working with children with special needs, then took the test to become a school secretary.

Ms. LoGiudice spent a short time working at Kirkbride Elementary, in South Philadelphia, before she took a job as the secretary of a brand-new school — Science Leadership Academy, a magnet high school that opened in Center City in 2006.

“Ms. Diane” became a fixture at the school, where she worked until her retirement in 2021, said Chris Lehmann, SLA’s founding principal.

“There is no way to fully communicate all that she meant to the SLA community,” Lehmann said in a tribute posted on the school’s website “She was everyone’s ‘School Mom,’ making sure that the Main Office was a warm and welcoming place for all who entered — students, staff, parents and visitors.”

Ms. LoGiudice managed the busy school’s office with love and skill and sometimes treats she’d make herself and distribute to everyone who walked in. She was efficient, a caretaker, a friend, and a diligent worker who helped build a school that has earned national acclaim.

“Diane embodied SLA’s ethic of care,” said Lehmann. “We are all so deeply indebted to all that she did to help build SLA — we would not be the school we are today without her tireless efforts and belief in both our mission and in all of the people who walked through our doors.”

Working at SLA was a joy to Ms. LoGiudice, said her daughter, Briana Kilmartin, a 2010 graduate of the school.

“She always said, ‘If you love what you do, it’s not work,’” said Kilmartin.

As much as Ms. LoGiudice loved her job, she loved her family more. She was endlessly proud of her children, Kilmartin and Stephen Alcaro, and when her granddaughter was born four years ago, Juliette became the center of her world.

“After I had my daughter, that was it for her,” said Kilmartin. “She was over the moon, and always wanted to be around her.”

After Ms. LoGiudice’s diagnosis with pancreatic cancer, she fought fiercely to hang on until the birth of her second grandchild, due Monday. But her illness moved too swiftly.

She loved travel and the beach, horror movies and photography.

Besides her children and grandchildren, Ms. LoGiudice is survived by her mother, sister, and former husband.

Services took place earlier. Donations in her name may be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tenn.