Pauline Spampinato Napier

September 20, 1928 - January 3, 2017

Pauline Spampinato Mulé Napier, age 88, at home, on Monday. She is predeceased by her husband, Anthony George Napier, and her mother, Sarah Ivy Spampinato, both of whom she lived with for most of her long and productive life. Also by her father, Samuel Spampinato, and her brothers Angelo and Ernest Spampinato. She is survived by her five children, Cynthia Napier Rosenberg, Anthony David Napier (wife Anna-Maria Napier Volkmann), Pamela Napier-Barnes (husband Louis Barnes, Jr.) , Michelle Napier-Dunnings (husband Steven Dunnings) and Andrea Napier (husband Matthew Kohl). Also by her twelve loving and devoted grandchildren Margaret Napier Elitt (husband Christopher Elitt), Hannah Napier Rosenberg, Emmeline Napier Rosenberg, Andrew F. R. Napier, Harriet G. G. Napier, Nathan Boyer (wife Anne Thompson), Gabriel Boyer (wife Grace Boyer), Julian Boyer, Sarah Napier-Dunnings, Thaddeus Napier-Dunnings, Bradley J. Kline and Alexandrea N. Kline. Also her two great-grandchildren Mirabel Boyer and Amelia Ivy Elitt. Also many loving nieces and nephews, cousins, and friends. Pauline lived all of her life in Pittsburgh. She was born in Lawrenceville, raised her children with her husband in the North Hills, then moved to the family home in Aspinwall where she lived for the last thirty-seven years of her life. She loved Pittsburgh, but she also loved to travel. First with her husband, then after his death with her children, she took frequent trips all over the world until illness precluded her travelling in the last few months of her life. Pauline loved books and learning. She encouraged and supported all of her family to continue to be lifelong readers and learners both for their own enjoyment and in order to make a contribution to other people and to the world. She graduated from St. John's High School and earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, studying psychology and education. She was initially an elementary school teacher in the North Hills and then a psychology faculty member for many years at Point Park University. She then went to Switzerland where she studied at the C.G.Jung Institute in Zurich and successfully qualified to become a Jungian analyst. She was a devoted and lifelong student of Jung and incorporated her studies into her work as a Jungian analyst and psychology teacher as well as into her personal life. At the time of her death, she was completing a book on the psychology of gender and motherhood. Pauline believed in the uniqueness and importance of every person and of each person's importance to the world. One of her most passionate beliefs was that "Only the individual can change the world." (C.G. Jung). She lived her entire adult life guided by that principle. Above all, she believed in living and enjoying life to the fullest and in the company of her family and close friends. Her home was often filled with laughter, good meals, and stories around the dinner table. Her homemade Christmas Eve bread, a tradition handed down to her by her mother, was an annual gift to family, neighbors, and friends. Her stories of her life and the life of her family are a treasured legacy for her children and grandchildren. She was greatly loved and she will be greatly missed. Services will be held Friday, January 6th, at 11:00 am at D'Alessandro's Funeral Home and Crematory Ltd., Lawrenceville, followed by a private burial in Allegheny Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in her name either to the Muscular Dystrophy Association (www.mda.org) or to The Pauline Napier Library Fund; c/o Cynthia Napier Rosenberg, P.O. Box 38607; Pittsburgh, PA 15238 for the building and maintenance of a library of her books and writing.