Salome Gutierrez, of Green Tree, a beloved community leader who bore her Peruvian culture wherever she went, died Saturday night at UPMC Mercy. She was 63.

Ms. Gutierrez was critically injured in November when she was hit by a car on the South Side. Further information about the accident, including whether the driver faces charges, was not available yesterday.

Born in Peru, Ms. Gutierrez was "a driving force" in the area's small but growing Latino community, said Enrique Mu, a longtime friend and the director of Carlow University's MBA program.

She was a founding member of the Latin American Cultural Union and an instructor at the University of Pittsburgh, where she taught Quechua and Aymara, both indigenous South American languages.

Friends said she was a passionate singer and dancer and a generous cook; she was always the first person to welcome new immigrants to the city.

"For years, she organized a New Year's Eve party, and everybody who didn't have a family here would attend," Mr. Mu said.

"More than a friend, she was like a mom to many of us," said Marisol Wandiga, the president of LACU. "She was just always looking for ways to share her culture."

At Pitt, she created a Quechua club, brought Peruvian food to her students and invited them into her home, said Kathleen DeWalt, director of Pitt's Center for Latin American Studies.

"It's a loss, not just for the Latin American community but for the community of Pittsburgh as a whole," Mr. Mu said.

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