Elizabeth A. Klemm's passion -- taking care of others -- began with the death of her father. When George Curilla died of a blood clot, Ms. Klemm was 15. She learned, in the stressful days after, to care for the pain of others.

"She made up her mind then that she wanted to be in the medical field," Ms. Klemm's brother, Kirk Curilla, said.

Ms. Klemm, of McKeesport, died Wednesday at 55 of a lingering, undisclosed illness. She'd worked, since finishing her education, as a critical care nurse at St. Francis Hospital and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Family members called her a workaholic, though Ms. Klemm never found anything she preferred doing. She pursued so many home-care nursing opportunities that she often held three jobs at once.

"She always wanted to take care of everybody else," said a younger sister, Maureen DiBattiste.

When a relative battled cancer, she'd finish her shift at St. Francis and hurry over to spend hours taking care of him. "Our Florence Nightingale," family members said.

After spending her childhood in Point Breeze and graduating from Ursuline Academy, she attended La Roche College and the St. Francis Hospital School of Nursing. She lived in McKeesport at the time of her death.

She is survived by her two children, Brian Puccio and Maura Puccio; her mother, Bernadette Curilla; and another brother, Patrick Curilla.

The funeral will be held at 9 a.m. today at McCabe Brothers Funeral Home, Shadyside.