Barberry Court in Murrysville is a close-knit cul-de-sac, the kind of neighborhood where neighbors share chardonnay on their back porches, build bonfires and hold impromptu picnics.

The neighborhood was mostly empty lots when Kathleen and Raymond Pujol built their dream home there in 2002, but it quickly filled up with young families who shared phone numbers, e-mail addresses, holidays and happy milestones.

In March of 2008, Mrs. Pujol was diagnosed with lymphoma. Her husband told the neighbors the bad news, and when Mrs. Pujol returned home from the hospital after the start of her treatment, all the residents of the neighborhood's 22 homes were in the street, holding banners and balloons and clapping, happy to have her back, neighbor Jennifer Stonecheck said.

"We've never met a street like ours," she said.

Mrs. Pujol died Saturday in her home on Barberry Court, at the age of 45, from lymphoma.

After her death, another neighbor, Janetta Earhart, asked Mr. Pujol what she could do to help him.

"He said he did have one request, and that was that on her final journey off the street, that the people of Barberry see her off," she said.

Calls were made and everyone gathered in Ms. Earhart's home early Saturday afternoon.

"It was heartwarming just to see everyone there in one spot, everyone who had known her, had loved her and had fun with her," she said.

When the hearse from the funeral home was prepared, about 50 Barberry Court neighbors left Ms. Earhart's house and lined up on the street in silence. Children released balloons, and then they all followed the hearse as it slowly moved from the cul-de-sac along the street to the stop sign and then drove away.

"I think she would have liked it a lot," Ms. Earhart said.

Her neighbors will unite again at her funeral, she said, and they also have decided to plant a tree on Barberry Court in her honor.

Mrs. Pujol began her life in Bon Air, born Dec. 7, 1964, to John and Marie Hooper. She started working as a paralegal after high school, first for Papernick & Gefsky in Monroeville, then for Pepper Hamilton Downtown.

It took her 13 years, but Mrs. Pujol earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from Robert Morris University by taking classes around her work schedule, said her sister, Trish Hooper of West View.

"Kathy always wanted to improve herself and make sure she was giving herself an opportunity to advance," she said. "Getting the degree was also just personally important to her."

She met her husband, Raymond, at Doc's Place in Shadyside, and together they had a son, Cley, 14. Mrs. Pujol was active in tennis, softball and cycling and ran three marathons in Pittsburgh. She helped with her son's football team and took him to a Bon Jovi concert, making him a fan for life, Ms. Hooper said.

Barberry Court was a large part of the Pujols' lives, she said. Once they built their home, they helped build their neighborhood.

When three women on the block were pregnant at the same time, Mrs. Pujol threw a baby shower for them in her house. The Pujols took frequent walks around the neighborhood, even after Mrs. Pujol became sick and used a wheelchair, Ms. Earhart said.

Over the last year as Mrs. Pujol struggled with her disease, her neighbors brought meals to her family two or three times a week.

The closeness of the neighborhood started when families like the Pujols welcomed the new arrivals, and it continued because each new arrival extended the same kindness, Ms. Earhart said.

"We realized how lucky we were because all of us had lived in other neighborhoods where we didn't know the people next door," Ms. Earhart said.

In addition to her husband, son and sister, Mrs. Pujol is survived by her father, John Hooper of Bon Air; two other sisters, Sister Mary Andrew of Cresson and Jo Anne Concannon of Jefferson Hills; and her brother, Jim Hooper of West Mifflin.

Visitation will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. today and from 2 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Burket-Truby Funeral Home. A burial Mass will be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church in Murrysville. Interment will follow in Calvary Cemetery.

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