Sister Assumpta Capaccio

We commend to your charity the soul of our beloved

Sister Assumpta Capaccio

who departed this life on February 7, 2012

in the sixty-fifth year of her religious life

Age: 86 years, 10 months, 13 days

Funeral: Friday, February 10, 2012, at 3:30 p.m.

The arrangements are as follows: Viewing in the Community Room at Providence Heights on Thursday, February 9, 2012 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. and on Friday, February 10 from noon-3 p.m. Wake Service in the Community Room on Thursday, February 9 at 7 p.m. Mass of Resurrection on Friday, February 10 at 3:30 p.m. in the Mother of Divine Providence Chapel at Providence Heights.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose. [Ps. 23]

Rachael Capaccio was the youngest of four children born to John and Rachael (Bracco) Capaccio and baptized at the Italian Church of St. Peter in Pittsburgh. Rachael’s mother died soon after she was born. What a tragedy for her, and for her two sisters and brother!

After entering the Sisters of Divine Providence, Rachael was given the name Sister Assumpta and from her earliest days of preparation as a Sister, she gave herself simply and generously in service to others, primarily to her Sisters in community. She loved all she learned about prayer, relishing the experience of community as she shared prayer in common with her Sisters. Encouraged by the name she was given, Sister Assumpta dedicated herself to Mary, making Mary’s fiat her own and the Hail Mary her favorite prayer.

In her first years in ministry, Sister Assumpta served in various convents and for five years in Divine Providence and Braddock hospitals. For more than fifty years, she gave herself daily in faithful service in housekeeping, in the laundry, and as a positive presence on the telephone and in welcoming guests at the front entrance of Providence Heights. Every young Sister who entered the community during those years when she served as laundress had the opportunity to learn from Sister Assumpta. The community entrusted new members to her, knowing that her humble example and dedicated service modeled the spirit of a Sister of Divine Providence.

Strengthened by the God of Providence, enjoying times throughout her days of being led beside restful waters, Sister Assumpta was guided in right paths and refreshed in soul for the sake of her Lord and Shepherd. As she grew in her relationship with the God of Providence, she knew that who she was and everything she did flowed from her prayer and service. She served others, using her gifts without needing special attention, allowing the love, gentleness, and compassion of Jesus flow through her to others.

What Sister Assumpta appreciated most about the community was the sharing “of our joys and prayers together,” and the knowledge that she was always accepted for herself; “our community is willing to accept me as I am.” She spent her retired years patiently, enjoying her visitors, and whenever possible, joining her Sisters in community in the chapel for the Eucharistic liturgy and daily prayer. She slipped away from the community quietly, without fanfare or notice, reaching for the day she had long awaited: You spread the table before me,… Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come.

Feastday: August 15

by Sister Mary Francis Fletcher

If you would like to make a gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence in memory of Sister Assumpta, visit our donation page.

Sister Mary Alvin Hunter

We commend to your charity the soul of our beloved

Sister Mary Alvin Hunter

who departed this life on April 14, 2012, in the seventy-fourth year of her religious life.

Age: 90 years, 7 months, 26 days

Resurrection Service: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 4 p.m.

The arrangements are as follows: Viewing in the Community Room at Providence Heights on Monday, April 16, 2012 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. and on Tuesday, April 17 from noon-3:30 p.m. Wake Service in the Community Room on Monday, April 16 at 7 p.m. Mass of Resurrection on Tuesday, April 17 at 4 p.m. in the Mother of Divine Providence Chapel at Providence Heights.

Last year, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra gave a Music for the Spirit concert at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Pittsburgh. The Bishop welcomed everyone, and stated, “Listening to this music is praying.”

During her lifetime, Sister Mary Alvin gave many people the opportunity to pray by providing them with music. Mary Hunter was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, and grew up in the neighborhood of her parish, St. Alphonsus. Daughter of John Hunter and Mary Bernhart Hunter, sister of Ralph Hunter and Alvin Hunter, cousin of Sister Theresa Bernhart, friend and colleague of Sister Genevieve Brandstetter. She was well prepared for a life in music, with a Bachelor of Science in Public School Music degree, and a Master of Science in Music Education degree, both from Duquesne University. Sister Mary Alvin was certificated from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to teach and supervise music in any public school. She influenced the lives of thousands of students all over Western Pennsylvania.

When it came to music, and bringing music to many people, Sister Mary Alvin was undaunted. No matter what the challenge, she rose to the occasion. When the band at St. Mary’s High School in Sharpsburg needed new uniforms, she organized a candy sale, World’s Finest Chocolates, so that they could raise the money to get brand-new uniforms in their school colors; they proudly wore their new green uniforms in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. In 1962, she and Sister Genevieve approached the provincial superior and pressed their case for having the Sisters make a record; the record was Convent Choirs of America. Between rehearsals and actual recording, Sister Mary Alvin attended a lecture given by Alexander Peloquin, a noted composer of liturgical music, and asked him if he would come to one of the rehearsals and give some pointers. He did. This first record was followed two years later by a Christmas record, and two years after that by concerts for the benefit of La Roche College. During celebration of the Sisters of Divine Providence centennial year in America, Sisters Mary Alvin and Genevieve formed a Centennial Chorus. The Chorus gave many performances, once again bringing music to many people.

Sister Mary Alvin taught scores of piano students. Her students performed in many competitions, including some competitions that she hosted. She was the chorus teacher at Marycrest, initiating many future members of the community into making beautiful music.

When the time came for Sister Mary Alvin to “retire” from giving piano lessons to young people, she offered to give piano lessons to any of the Sisters who wished to learn to play. All her life she taught singing and encouraged students and members of the Community to use the perfect instruments, their voices, to make beautiful sound. If Saint Augustine was correct in saying, “Who sings well prays twice," then Sister Mary Alvin’s gift to us is a legacy of prayer.

Most certainly Sister Mary Alvin is now thanking God always, with melody in her heart and on her lips. Could it be that she has already organized chorus and orchestra to praise God for all eternity?

Birthday: August 18

Written by Sister Mary Traupman

If you would like to make a gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence in memory of Sister Mary Alvin, visit our donation page.

Sister Mary Pires

The arrangements are as follows: Viewing at Providence House Chapel, Kingston, on Monday, May 28, 2012 from 2-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Wake Service on Monday, May 28 at 7:30 p.m. Mass of Resurrection on Tuesday, May 29 at 3:30 p.m. in the Chapel at Sacred Heart High School.

We commend to your charity the soul of our beloved 

Sister Mary Pires 

who departed this life on May 22, 2012 

in the sixty-first year of her religious life.

Age: 85 years, 9 months, 18 days

Resurrection Service: Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 3:30 p.m.

"...you entrusted me with five talents; see, I have made five more...." Well done, good and faithful servant....Come, share your Master’s joy. [Matt. 25:20–21]

Mary, one of seven children born to Manuel and Mary [Dores], left her home in Kingston, Mass., to enter the Sisters of Divine Providence in Pittsburgh, Pa. Named in religious life Sister Joseph Mary, she first served for two years as a teacher in Pittsburgh before returning to teach at Sacred Heart High School in Kingston. Soon after taking first vows, the New England Province of Our Lady of Divine Providence was established in Kingston. She remained in Community for most of her life within the New England area, at first teaching in several parish schools, as well as at Sacred Heart.

After Vatican II, as changes came to religious life, she returned to her baptismal name. With a number of Sisters doing the same, and with several of them now named Sister Mary, she was ever-after identified with her family name firmly attached to her first name.

The God who called Sister Mary to consecrate her life, gifted her with many talents. Always an expert cook and baker, Sister Mary used her culinary skills to bring joy to her Sisters in Community and to her friends and family as well. After a number of years in schools, the Community asked her to return to study, and Sister Mary became a registered dietician, spending eight years serving at the VA Hospital in Providence, RI. In later years, she also assisted in the finance office at Sacred Heart High School before moving into a new field of parish outreach to the elderly. Sister Mary served in a grandparent adoption program, ministered as head of the Love Program for St. Joseph Parish in Kingston, brought the Eucharist to residents of Evanswood, now named Wingate, also in Kingston, visited people who were homebound, and for many years, reached out to the frail and lonely in a ministry of compassion and care.

Devoted to her large family, Sister Mary was always interested in their activities and was proud of their achievements. Her many relatives always looked forward to her visits, and she never seemed able to arrive at their homes without a freshly baked delicacy for all to enjoy. Though in recent years Sister Mary had been more limited by a need for oxygen and the use of an electric wheelchair, every week, she visited the Senior Center in Kingston, where she continued her ministry and enjoyed participating in their activities. With the Sisters as well, Sister Mary liked the challenge of a good Scrabble or pinochle game.

Now she can see the eternal One, face to face. In the words of Matthew’s Gospel, she affirms, "...you entrusted me with five talents; see, I have made five more." And the God of Providence, to whom she dedicated her life, responds, "Well done, good and faithful servant....Come, share my eternal home."

If you would like to make a gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence in memory of Sister Mary, visit our donation page

Sister Mary Adrian Dimmerling

We commend to your charity the soul of our beloved
Sister Mary Adrian Dimmerling
who departed this life on June 2, 2012
in the seventy-ninth year of her religious life.

Age: 96 years, 4 months, 1 day

The funeral arrangements are as follows: Viewing in the Community Room at Providence Heights (Allison Park, Pa.) on Thursday, June 7 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. and on Friday, June 8 from noon-3:30 p.m. Wake Service in the Community Room on Thursday, June 7 at 7 p.m. Mass of Resurrection on Friday, June 8 at 4 p.m. in the Mother of Divine Providence Chapel at Providence Heights.

Helen Beatrice Dimmerling was the second oldest of eight children. She was born in North Braddock, Pa., a town she dearly loved. Her parents hailed from Fulda, Ohio, but her family roots were in Fulda, Germany. Adrian was educated by our Community and, from an early age, loved learning and was determined to become a teacher. When asked many years later to share her experience of call to religious life, she related that her desire to become a Sister of Divine Providence was not from deep spiritual motives, but simply to become a teacher. She entered the Community, she said, because religious women had the best opportunity to become teachers, a vocation that was not easily accessible to women in general. It was Adrian’s deep love for learning that later drew her to an intense study of our charism and the history of the Community.

Adrian spent many years teaching in community elementary and secondary schools. In addition she was a faculty member of La Roche College. Her initial education was in math and science, but she also taught music. Adrian’s ministry as novice director was, perhaps, the most painful period of her life. She was caught between the movements leading to Vatican II, her own education on current trends in religious life, the growing excitement about the reform of the liturgy, the influence of the women’s movement on those entering the Community on one side, and the very strong conservatism of the Community on the other. She struggled to move forward with new ideas in the formation of the novices only to be restrained frequently by the leadership at that time.

However, it was during this period that Adrian’s real and fundamental call to religious life came to the fore. In 1957, at the request of the current Provincial Superior, Sr. Mary Kenneth Kearns, Adrian began to research the concept of Providence, to collect articles from spiritual writers of that era as well as original writings from our Sisters on Providence. Her task was to bring the articles together into a single volume. The book, Divine Providence, was published in 1959. It was the first book on this topic in the U. S. Provinces. The immersion into the study of God as Providence was a turning point in Adrian’s life. It became the anchor of her spirituality, grounding her in the charism of the Community. Mother Marie’s words, “Visibly do I see in all things the wonderful Providence of God” were a validation of a belief that Adrian cherished, that God’s Provident love is everywhere, in the books she loved to read, the beauty of nature which she so enjoyed, and even in the struggles she endured as novice director. As chairwoman of the newly formed Charism Committee of St. Peter Province, she worked with the committees of the St. Louis and Our Lady Provinces to initiate the study of our charism in response to the Vatican document, Perfectae Caritatis, calling religious communities to return to their roots and to study their founding spirit. Several pamphlets on the life of Mother Marie and Bishop Ketteler were published under her aegis.

After many years as teacher, principal, and novice director, Adrian attended Catholic University and obtained a Master’s Degree in Church Administration and Canon Law. She served ten years in the Tribunals of Pittsburgh and Wheeling, West Virginia. At age 80, Adrian accepted the call to minister as the General Econome of the Congregation in Rome, Italy, in 1995. During the ten years of service in this community ministry, another dimension of Adrian’s personality came to the fore; she became interested in water color painting and in Tai Chi. In 2006, Adrian fell victim to three strokes which impaired her memory and her eyesight, but not her intellect nor her spirit. She accepted her situation with the same peace that marked her life. Adrian lived out her remaining days among the Sisters in Kingston, Mass., enjoying their friendship and reveling with her artist’s heart and Providence eyes in the beauty of nature, especially in the magnificence of the ocean.

Written by Sister Myra Rodgers

 

If you would like to make a gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence in memory of Sister Mary Adrian, visit our donation page

Sister Paul Gabriel Kersting

We commend to your charity the soul of our beloved 

Sister Paul Gabriel Kersting 

who departed this life on June 26, 2012 

in the sixty-third year of her religious life

Age: 84 years, 10 months, 11 days

The arrangements are as follows: Viewing in the Community Room at Providence Heights on Thursday, June 28, 2012 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. and on Friday, June 29 from noon-3:30 p.m. Wake Service in the Community Room on Thursday, June 28 at 7 p.m. Mass of Resurrection on Friday, June 29 at 4 p.m. in the Mother of Divine Providence Chapel at Providence Heights.

During the week that followed the feast of Corpus Christi, the celebration of the Body of Christ, Sister Paul Gabriel Kersting began preparing for the completion of her life’s journey. In this final phase, she would return her body, which had been blessed and broken during her lifetime, to the God she served so faithfully. After struggling with a number of illnesses over recent years, she knew she was at the end, and this was confirmed by her doctor. She quietly spent her last days with her Community, family and friends, and in prayer. To the very end, she shared her life, her energy, with those around her.

Marian Kersting was the tenth child of Caroline Pfeiffer and Fredrich Kersting. Interestingly, the last three children of this family entered religious life. Sister Paula Kersting, her sister, had entered the Community in 1936, and her brother Gabriel had entered the Community of the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a religious brother. In spite of this, she wrestled with the call to religious life. During her high school years at St. Basil’s, she felt a strong call to both religious life and to the nursing profession. Upon graduation, she decided to attend St. Joseph School of Nursing. If she had a vocation, she reasoned, she wanted to be a nursing Sister. Even as she completed nursing school, she continued to feel strongly pulled to religious life. So she entered the Community a month before receiving her nursing diploma. While other postulants finished high school and began college classes, Sister Paul Gabriel pursued advance classes at Duquesne University that would eventually lead to a BS degree. On completing the novitiate, she was sent to Marquette University to learn surgical nursing.

Even though she was a trained nurse, her ministerial life began with a short run in elementary education. In 1956, she finally began the nursing career for which she yearned. She ministered first at Providence Heights as the Infirmarian, then at the newly opened Divine Providence Hospital and, finally, at San Rosario Nursing Home. In 1966, she once again responded to another call—she generously volunteered to go to Korea, where the Congregation hoped to open a hospital. When the hospital did not materialize, Paul Gabriel used her skills to work in clinics operated by the Maryknoll Sisters and the Columban Sisters. In the clinics, she worked with children in immunizing them and treating their illnesses. She also treated the elderly, particularly taking care of their feet. She became known for her podiatry skills. With both populations, she treated many burns, which resulted from the type of stove used in the homes of the people. While ministering in the clinics, she contracted TB in the form of a nodule in her neck, for which she needed treatment for more than a year. In spite of that, she accepted ministry in a “leper colony,” living with and ministering to those persons with Hansen Disease. Interestingly, while Sister Paul Gabriel was ministering in Korea, her brother, Brother Gabriel, was ministering in Africa. Once again, we witnessed a family who fostered a generous spirit within their children, who were willing to serve wherever they were sent and to whomever was in need.

When Paul Gabriel returned from Korea, she ministered internally to her Sisters. She served as receptionist and driver, as needed, and was “house nurse.” In her “retirement,” Sister Paul Gabriel worked with Sister Betty Sundry, Director of Social Concerns, and voted our shareholder proxies, enabling our retirement funds to work for the common good and help those in need.

In her own words, Sister Paul Gabriel once said, “If God is calling you, you will recognize it. It is a strong pulling in your heart. Trust in God and be faithful.” We rejoice with Sister Paul Gabriel, who continues to be with us in the communion of saints. In life she recognized how precious in God’s eyes are the deaths of God’s faithful ones, first of Jesus, and then us, in union with Jesus.

Birthday: August 15

Written by Sister Maria Fest

If you would like to make a gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence in memory of Sister Paul Gabriel, visit our donation page.

Sister Camille Ordner

We commend to your charity the soul of our beloved

Sister Camille Ordner

who departed this life on August 22, 2012

in the seventy-ninth year of her religious life

Age: 95 years, 5 months, 6 days

Resurrection Service: Friday, August 24, 2012, at 4 p.m.

Funeral arrangements are as follows: Viewing in the Community Room at Providence Heights on Thursday, August 23 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. and on Friday, August 24 from noon-3:30 p.m. Wake Service in the Community Room on Thursday, August 23 at 7 p.m. Mass of Resurrection on Friday, August 24 at 4 p.m. in the Mother of Divine Providence Chapel at Providence Heights.

It is fitting that as the Church prepares to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the start of the Second Vatican Council, Sister Camille completed her life’s journey. The Council, which explored a new way of being Church and urged religious communities to update and explore their founding charisms, shaped the last 50 years of Sister Camille’s religious life. Sister Camille was hospitalized in July with an infection. When she returned from the hospital, she told the Sisters and nurses who cared for her that she was ready to go to God. In this final phase, which lasted about three weeks, she quietly prepared herself, and those around her, for her passing to new life. To the very end, she relied on “community life to support her in her efforts to bring peace, joy and pain to God’s service.” Sister Camille died peacefully at 7 a.m. on the feast of the Queenship of Mary. Sister Camille had a lifelong devotion to Mary, Mother of God.

Dolores Ordner was the third child of Frances Bickar and George Ordner. Both her parents died when she was a year old of the 1918 influenza epidemic. Dolores, along with her brother and sister, were raised by an aunt and uncle whom she described as good and holy people. In fact, she often stated that she first learned about a Provident God by observing and experiencing the kindness of her aunt and uncle to all whom they encountered. Dolores entered the Community from St. Mary’s Parish in McKeesport because she was inspired by the kindness and happiness of the Sisters who taught her. She was given the religious name of Sister Camilla and later changed it to Sister Camille.

Sister Camille’s ministry began in education. She taught for 22 years in the elementary schools of the Pittsburgh, Greensburg, and Detroit Dioceses. She ministered as teacher and guidance counselor at the secondary level for 20 years. She served at Bishop McCourt High School in Johnstown, Bishop Guilfoyle High School in Altoona, and Divine Providence Academy in Pittsburgh. Camille started the master’s degree program in counseling and psychology at the University of Dayton soon after the degree was instituted. This degree served her well, not only in her teaching career, but also in later ministries to the Congregation and parishes. Sister Camille served as director of Junior Sisters for four years when the Community had about 100 Sisters in the program. Having been shaped by what came out of the Vatican Counsel, she introduced the young Sisters to communication workshops and the “Up with People” movement. Later, she developed and helped to teach a renewal program, Realm, for the older religious (over 55!). This program, as well as the Juniorate program, she did in the summers while she maintained a full time ministry in school during the academic year. Sister Camille began a second career when she entered parish ministry in 1979. Sister Camille fulfilled her desire to do parish ministry. She started as a parish social minister and later became pastoral associate. In the beginning she was mostly responsible for religious education programs for children, maintaining the “food cupboard” for the poor and visiting parishioners who had special needs. When two parishes in the area of Chicora (St. Joseph and Mater Dolorosa) merged, she became a pastoral associate and was responsible for CCD and RCIA programs, adult faith formation, directing the worship committee, sacramental preparation, training liturgical ministers, and serving as spiritual director for the Legion of Mary program. She also was invited to be a member of the Ministerium of the Chicora and Petrolla (Butler County) areas, designed to bring closer unity of the churches in the area.

Anyone who knew Camille knows that community living has always been one of the most satisfying aspects of her religious life. In her own words, “No matter what form of ministry I was assigned, I was always happy to come back home to community each evening.” She attributes the common charism for the ability of religious to live community because “there is a sense of unity, caring, loyalty, and good will which pervades among us.” May Camille continue to experience the Provident God in her new life whom she knew from her earliest childhood.

Birthday: March 16

Written by Sister Mary Francis Fletcher

If you would like to make a gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence in memory of Sister Camille, visit our donation page 

Sister Louise Kovalovsky

We commend to your charity the soul of our beloved

Sister Louise Kovalovsky

who departed this life on August 22, 2012

in the fiftieth year of her religious life

Age: 72 years, 7 months, 14 days

Resurrection Service: Saturday, August 25, 2012 at 4 p.m.

Funeral arrangements are as follows: Viewing in the Community Room at Providence Heights on Friday, August 24, 2012 from 6:30-9 p.m. and on Saturday, August 25 from 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Wake Service in the Community Room on Friday, August 24 at 7 p.m. Mass of Resurrection on Saturday, August 25 at 4 p.m. in the Mother of Divine Providence Chapel at Providence Heights.

God is Infinite Beauty. Those who create beauty do the work of God. Sister Louise Kovalovsky did just exactly that for a lifetime.

Louise was born in McKees Rocks, the daughter of Frank and Marie Kovalovsky. Louise and Fran (Hays) and Arlene (Buettner) were a trio of happy sisters. Louise was educated by the Sisters of Divine Providence at St. Mary's High School, where her ability to play the piano was put to good use, and where she was fortunate to have a wonderful art teacher.

There are a number of parallels between Louise and her patron, Louise de Marillac (for about six years, Louise was known as Sister De Marillac). Louise de Marillac was schooled and was introduced to the arts and humanities, as well as to a deep spiritual life. Our Louise continued her study of art after high school graduation, but when she entered the Congregation, she studied history, prepared to be a history teacher, and allowed her spirit to be nurtured.

When Louise de Marillac made application to the Capuchin nuns, but was refused admission, her spiritual director’s prophetic response to her was that God had “other plans” for her. Our Louise, through her whole life, cooperated with the “other plans” that the God of Providence, the God of infinite possibilities, had for her. After years as teacher, school principal, director of religious education, teacher at the San Juan Art Center at Artes del Valle, in Center, Colorado, co-director of the Provincial House, and campus minister at La Roche College, she pursued her dream and earned a master’s degree in art.

In the case of Louise de Marillac, those “other plans” came to fruition when she met Vincent de Paul. He recognized her personal gifts and understood her desire for spiritual direction. He guided her to greater balance in a life of moderation, peace and calm. Who was more calm and balanced than our Louise?

Eventually, Louise de Marillac understood that it was time to intensify her ministry with poor and needy persons, while still maintaining a deep spiritual life. Drawn to focus on mission, she communicated this aspiration to Vincent. Together, they founded the Daughters of Charity. Our Louise, the artist, ministered at the Three Hills Ministry, at Sisters’ Place, and at the Providence Family Support Center. Then, as Archivist at La Roche College, Louise was able to devote herself to her passion for history, both of our community and of La Roche, and to present it in a beautiful way.

All this time, she was “doing art” full time, reflecting her own beauty, and Infinite Beauty, in music and dance, as well as the visual arts and the spoken word. May we all be better people because of Louise, because of her willingness to follow the God of Providence; may we all be better people because of her peaceful and calm presence.

Birthday: January 8

Written by Sister Mary Traupman

If you would like to make a gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence in memory of Sister Louise, visit our donation page.

Sister Concepta Stanko

We commend to your charity the soul of our beloved

Sister Concepta Stanko

who departed this life on August 30, 2012

in the seventy-seventh year of her religious life

Age: 94 years, 4 months, 10 days

Resurrection Service: Tuesday, September, 4, 2012 at 4 p.m.

From her earliest years in Community, even to her passing into eternal life, Sister Concepta was aware of a call, not just the initial call to religious life, but the ongoing call that guided her response to the mission of the Congregation and its ministries. Like Ruth, in the Hebrew Scriptures, she knew that wherever she went, she was preceded by her Provident God.

Sister Concepta, baptized Dorothy Marie, was the second of ten children born to Mary Kozusko and John Stanko. Dorothy entered the Community from St. Michael’s Parish in Brownstown (Johnstown). Throughout her life, Sister Concepta maintained close bonds with her family, even when separated from them by distance.

As a young religious, Sister Concepta never dreamed of being a missionary. After teaching in the elementary schools of the diocese of Pittsburgh for 11 years, she was asked to go to Puerto Rico in 1949. Her mother had passed away the year before, and she did not want to leave her father. After saying “no” to the first two requests, Sister Concepta, the reluctant missionary, finally said “yes.” Her total of 31 years in Puerto Rico would prove that she indeed had a true missionary heart. She was willing to step outside of her comfort zone, away from family and friends, away from the culture, language, and social structures to which she was accustomed in order to educate, to heal, to bring hope, in a territory unknown to her.

Sister Concepta taught in the elementary schools in Utuado and Arecibo for eight years. She also traveled to the Campos on weekends to teach religion classes to the poor children who lived on the outskirts of town. The one constant in her life in her early years as a missionary was support of her Sisters in community who helped each other to endure the hardships of missionary work. The Sisters in Puerto Rico experienced the support and prayers from the Sisters “back home” as well. Intercommunity collaboration was also strong. The Sisters of all religious communities who served in Puerto Rico came together regularly to pray, socialize, and offer support to each other knowing that they were all far from home. After eight years on the Island, Concepta was asked to return to the States to be principal of St. Anne’s School in Castle Shannon and to serve as local superior (1957–63). At that time, St. Anne’s was the largest school in the diocese, with 800 children enrolled. During the time of her administration, the school would enroll 1,600 students. The parish built a new church and convent. The 32 Sisters assigned to St. Anne’s moved into their new convent in 1963. Shortly after that, Sister Concepta received a call to return to Puerto Rico. She served there another 23 years. During those years, she was principal at each of the three elementary schools staffed by the Community: San Miguel in Utuado, San Juan Bautista in Oracovis, and San Felipe in Arecibo. She guided San Felipe through Middle States accreditation.

Sister Concepta’s early years as a missionary shaped her for her next ministries. On her return from Puerto Rico, she would return to Castle Shannon. This time she answered the call to be director of the recently established St. Anne’s Day Care, which eventually became Providence Child Care Center South. She no longer shied away from new ventures. She ran a quality childcare program for 11 years. Just short of her 80th birthday, Sister Concepta embraced her final ministry, one to which she was faithful for the rest of her life. In order to enable Sister Alicia Schweitzer, with whom she served in Puerto Rico, to stay in active parish ministry longer, she agreed to form community with her and do the things for Sister Alicia that she was unable to do for herself because of early onset of Parkinson’s disease. This ministry would take Sister Concepta to St. Mary’s Parish in Export, Pa., for four years and to St. Anthony’s Parish in Charleston, WV, for nine months. Sister Concepta returned to the Provincial House with Sister Alicia in January 2003. Until her final illness, Sister Concepta served in this supportive ministry with Sister Alicia. It was a relationship reminiscent of our biblical foremothers, Ruth and Naomi.

Until the very end, Sister Concepta could pray, “Wherever I go, Provident God, You go before me. I depend on you for all I need for comfort and survival. Your people will be my people, and You will always be my God.”

Birthday: April 20

Written by Sister Maria Fest

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette printed an obituary  and a beautiful article about Sister Concepta’s life.

If you would like to make a gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence in memory of Sister Concepta, visit our donation page.

Sister Francine Barsh

We commend to your charity the soul of our beloved

Sister Francine Barsh

who departed this life on September 26, 2012

in the seventy-eighth year of her religious life

Age: 95 years, 4 months, 18 days

Funeral: Friday, September 28, 2012 at 4 p.m.

Complete funeral arrangements are as follows: Viewing in the Community Room at Providence Heights on Thursday, September 27 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. and on Friday, September 28 from noon-3:30 p.m. Wake Service in the Community Room on Thursday, September 27 at 7 p.m. Mass of Resurrection on Friday, September 28 at 4 p.m. in the Mother of Divine Providence Chapel at Providence Heights.

“But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever.” (Daniel 12:2)

Sister Francine Barsh, baptized Rosella on May 20, 1917, in the Croatian Church of St. Nicholas, was the eighth of the 13 children of Mildred (Bukovac) and John Barsh, who were born in Croatia. She was preceded in death by siblings Anna, John, Barbara, Michael, Joseph, Marie, Mathilda, George, Thomas, James, and Irene, and is survived by Richard. The Barshes lived in the Sharpsburg-Etna area. The next generation of Barshes populated schools staffed by the Sisters of Divine Providence in Etna, Sharpsburg, and Glenshaw, as well as Divine Providence Academy.

Growing up, Sister Francine and her brother used to race each other to Ranalli’s Market on Maplewood Street to do the family shopping. She frequently won the race. Quite athletic, she also swam like a fish and was a perfect diver.

Mr. and Mrs. Barsh helped the Daughters of the Divine Redeemer with their fundraising. All those Sisters knew the Barshes. Sister Francine might have joined that community, since she always wanted to be a Sister. But Anna, her oldest sibling, a teacher, encouraged her to go to the Sisters of Divine Providence Aspirant School, so that she would get a better education than she might otherwise have gotten. Also, Anna knew Sister Hildegarde Cvetic, Marie’s sister-in-law, and that sealed the future for Sister Francine.

As a Sister of Divine Providence, Sister Francine ministered for more than 50 years in education, as teacher and principal, and especially as an excellent mathematics teacher. With her students she was very quiet and gentle, but very firm.

Her niece Pat, who went to St. Mary’s High School, had friends from St. Alphonsus in Springdale who had been taught by Sister Francine. They spoke very highly of their teacher. She got along especially well with the boys, probably because she grew up with seven brothers.

Sister Francine was also a musician. In the late 1930s, she studied liturgical music at the Pius X School of Liturgical Music at Manhattanville College in New York. She played piano and organ, and also directed a choir.

She liked being with her sisters. When one sister was in a nursing home, she would take two buses to visit her there. While caring for another sister, she found herself in a new ministry to senior citizens who lived across the street.

Sister Francine was devoted to her teaching and loved all her ministries. She preferred to stay in the background, rather than in the limelight, and she related well in one-on-one situations. She was a very prayerful person, quiet and refined, a genteel individual who could always find something good in any situation.

Truly, Sister Francine Barsh has led the many to justice, whether ministering as teacher, principal, musician, or to the elderly by visiting and praying with them. May she be like the stars forever!

Feast day: January 24

Written by Sister Mary Traupman

If you would like to make a gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence in memory of Sister Francine, visit our donation page.

Sister Celesta Rudolph

We commend to your charity the soul of our beloved

Sister Celesta Rudolph

who departed this life on October 15, 2012

in the seventy-fourth year of her religious life

Age: 90 years, 1 months, 11 days

Resurrection Service: Thursday, October 18, 2012

Complete Funeral arrangements are as follows: Viewing in the Community Room at Providence Heights on Wednesday, October 17 from 2-4 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. and on Thursday, October 18 from noon-3:30 p.m. Wake Service in the Community Room on Wednesday, October 17 at 7 p.m. Mass of Resurrection on Thursday, October 18 at 4 p.m. in the Mother of Divine Providence Chapel at Providence Heights.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach … Whatever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus …” [Col. 3:16–17]

Agnes, second of nine children born to Aloysius and Gertrude [Mansmann], entered the community from St. Walburga Parish in Pittsburgh, where she had attended elementary school before beginning her high school years at Divine Providence Academy.

Named Sister Celesta, she received her formation and grew in her understanding of God’s call in her life, deepening her experience of prayer and community and, after three years, professing her vows as a Sister of Divine Providence. For twenty years of ministry as a teacher, first in elementary and later in high schools of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Sister Celesta also studied, earning a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, and “let the word of Christ dwell in her richly” as she taught. Seeing her potential for higher education and her facility with the German language, the Community asked Sister Celesta to go to Germany, where she attended the University of Frieburg/Breisgau and received a Ph.D. in modern German literature. Sister Celesta’s doctoral dissertation was published and can be found in many German libraries even today.

Returning to the United States, where three years earlier the Community had established La Roche College, Sister Celesta served for the next forty years, first as a professor in the humanities division, and later as the college archivist. She supported individuals and groups by offering tutorial help and serving as a translator. Faculty, administration, and students of La Roche were touched by her positive presence of service and support. During her years at La Roche, Sister Celesta offered leadership within the college and beyond, sharing her knowledge and skills in several national and international modern language organizations. She was named an Outstanding Educator of America, listed in the World’s Who’s Who among Women and received recognition in a number of other international and national publications.

Sister Celesta was a quiet, caring presence among her Sisters in Community, generously sharing her time and talent wherever it was needed. As her strength and health failed, Sister Celesta sought to witness the love and patience that had deepened in her through the years, living the admonition, “Whatever you do, whether in speech or in action, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God through him.”

Written by Sister Mary Francis Fletcher

If you would like to make a gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence in memory of Sister Celesta, visit our donation page

Sister Rosalie Deck

We commend to your charity the soul of our beloved

Sister Rosalie Deck

who departed this life on November 9, 2012

in the sixty-sixth year of her religious life

Age: 83 years, 3 months, 0 days

Resurrection Service: Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at 3:30 p.m.

Funeral arrangements are as follows in Kingston, Massachusetts: Wake in the Chapel at Providence House on Monday, November 12 from 2-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Prayer Service in the Chapel on Monday, November 12 at 7:30 p.m. Mass of Resurrection on Tuesday, November 13 at 3:30 p.m. in the Chapel at Sacred Heart High School. Burial will follow at Our Lady of Divine Providence cemetery.

“How shall I sing to God and tell my Savior’s story...I’ll sing with my life...” [song by David Haas]

Mary Ann Deck began her life in Allen County, Indiana, moving to Pittsburgh, Pa., as a child. Raised in a religious atmosphere, she entered the Sisters of Divine Providence at age 18 from St. Catherine’s Church in Pittsburgh. One of her sisters, Sister Rosemonde, joined her two years later in the Community. Their only brother, Marion, became a Franciscan priest.

Sister Rosalie, the oldest of five children, had two other sisters, Virginia and Dolores. They grew up together in a musical family. Sister Rosalie’s mother, Gladys, was a distinguished vocal coach and singer. Her father, Ferdinand, was first chair clarinetist with the Fort Wayne Symphony Orchestra. Sister Rosalie, with Sister Rosemonde, began performing as a young girl and continued through all the years of her life.

After joining the Community, Sister Rosalie became a music educator. Receiving a BS in music education and later a master’s of music in vocal performance, Sister Rosalie spent her life teaching and performing. She celebrated her wondrous musical gifts and rejoiced in God’s goodness in allowing her to share those gifts with students in schools in the Dioceses of Boston, Mass., and Pittsburgh and in an educational series on WQED radio in Pittsburgh. “How shall I sing to God when life is filled with gladness....I’ll sing from the heart, thankfully receiving, joyful in believing...”

After moving from Pittsburgh to Kingston, Mass., Sister Rosalie taught for almost forty years at Sacred Heart School. She gave private voice lessons, directed chorus groups, and led special vocal ensembles. Music was her source of life, her embodied prayer, and her way to express her love of God and all people. Sister Rosalie became fluent in French. She and Sister Rosemonde also studied other languages in order to perform in many different languages. Together the Deck Sisters won international acclaim as concert artists with symphony orchestras, on recordings, television, and radio throughout the United States and in many other countries. “I’ll sing with my life, witnessing and giving, risking and forgiving...”

During many community gatherings, Sister Rosalie was always generous in offering a song or two to enliven a liturgy or entertain dinner guests. As her physical and mental health became compromised, Sister Rosalie was more aware of the beauty surrounding her. As she was losing her ability to communicate clearly, she often said, “I love everyone,” or, “I love you.” May we continue to rejoice in the music she shared and in her spirit of joy, as Sister Rosalie joins her voice with the heavenly chorus and brings honor to the God of Providence. “...This is my song, I’ll sing it with love.”

Birthday: August 9

Written by Sister Mary Francis Fletcher

If you would like to make a gift to the Sisters of Divine Providence in memory of Sister Rosalie, visit our donation page.