AUTUMN 2022
Life in Pictures
Yes, it has been quite some time since USPN has shown up in your inbox. But we’re trying to get back on track with quarterly issues, beginning with this wonderful new season of Autumn. It would be an insurmountable task today to report on all that has happened in our community since the most recent issue was published last winter. So let’s do it in pictures! Click the button below to view dozens of photos of our Sisters at work and play this year. Some of these images you may have seen in passing, but most will be “new to you.” Enjoy this look back at the past nine months of community life.
With more and more of our Sisters using smartphones these days, it’s easier to share happenings with one another. Keep sending those photos to Nicole for use in future issues.
Alumnae News
Michele Coll Beckett (SFA-B 1966) of Lehighton, Pa., checked in recently to share an update with the Sisters: It was wonderful to see this portal (the Alumnae Portal on our website) when I was looking for information. I am so pleased to see what you have all done to keep the School and property giving back as it did when we were students there and you shared your love and knowledge with us. Please keep me updated. I have a lovely daughter and two wonderful grandsons. I married a wonderful man from Philadelphia. He was Union painter. I work caring for others and had a craft/flower business. We are volunteers as First Responders for Animals. I hope to see you soon, see your gardens. My spouse's name is Francis. We both love nature and the peace we find in it.

Elizabeth Aiello Oberst (MAA 1952) is now a Resident at Mt. Assisi Place, where she is visited frequently by her daughter, Diane Oberst (MAA 1975).

Yvonne Sustaita Ramirez (SFA-T 1985) dropped us a line to reach out to Sister Denise Olshausky. “Sister Denise was my principal from 1981 to 1984,” she
says. “Her words of wisdom and encouragement helped me succeed in high school and college. I will forever be grateful to her.” The two have since reconnected
by email.

Also, some sad notes shared by St. Francis Academy Alumnae Association in San Antonio, Texas: Among the SFA-T Skylarks who gained their wings this year are Yolanda Narvaez Arellano (SFA-T 1965) and Patricia Breheny (SFA-T 1972).
St. Francis Academy graduates gather for their first all-class breakfast on September 9 at Teka Molino in San Antonio.
In addition to their annual summer dances, our Texas alumnae have started having monthly all-class breakfasts at local restaurants. The first outing on September 9 was a great success. The next gathering is set for October 14. The groups has great interest in what's happening with the Sisters. “I am so grateful for all the Sisters of St. Francis and the wonderful things they have done to educate young women through the years,” says SFA-T alum Patricia Gonzales Santos.
Website Enhancements
Long-time friend and volunteer Judy Campbell has been spending one day a week in our Provincial Office in Pittsburgh helping to digitize our alumnae class lists and Sisters’ necrologies that were written before the digital era. Her efforts enable us to enhance the Obituary Archive and Alumnae Portal sections of our website, the pages visited most frequently by our online audience.
Annual Appeal Brochure
Our 2022-2023 annual appeal mailer, Caring for Our Planet & God’s People, arrived in mailboxes earlier this week, including those of our Sisters. The brochure highlights our Laudato Si’ and Fratelli Tutti action plans and ties into our Caring for Mother Nature & God’s People community video produced earlier this year. Last year’s annual appeal raised more than $51,000 for our ministries and retirement needs.

Greetings for You
A collection of notes, messages and social media comments for our Sisters
I opened today’s email and my heart burst! Thanks to everyone who puts this together. I am so happy to see a picture of Sister Cecilia Jacko, as we are related (her brother Ernie was our stepfather). Can I ask you to give her a hug from Karen Cassandro Clipper and Gina Cassandro Hicks? Our time is not our own, but Gina and I talk about making a trip to Mt. Assisi Place for much needed grounding, a return to a quiet place we hold close. Best wishes to everyone. We miss you!
— Karen Cassandro Clipper
Mount Assisi Academy 1974
 
My dear Sisters, I want to thank you for your mission and your courage. May you continue to find new responses to the challenges of our times. As the Holy Father says, “May God bless each of you.”
— Helen DiFalco
Former Sister Ronald

Pokoj Vám (peace to you). Thank you for all you do, especially for your prayers. Sister Lawrence Waxman was a school principal when our daughter attended SS. Cyril & Methodius School in Clifton, N.J. We think of her often and pray that God will reward her in heaven for her good work. We pray with you for the Ukrainian people and peace.
— Joseph & Irene Hurtik
Clifton, N.J.

Thank you so much for your compassionate gift of $1,000. It will help Light of Life Rescue Mission bring hope to thousands of hurting people across the Pittsburgh area. Because of your donation, our hungry neighbors will have nourishing meals and safe shelter at our mission, while others will enter or continue in long-term programs that seek to bring sustainable solutions to their lives as part of our continuum of care. We are grateful that you see our hurting and homeless neighbors as more than their circumstances — as children of God deserving hope, healing and restored lives.
— Jerrel Gilliam
Light of Life Rescue Mission

There is a special place in my heart for all you. Way back when my mother’s best friend became Sister Agatha and we often visited her in Bethlehem. Years later, my dear husband Joseph served as your accountant. Sister Anna Catherine and I became dear friends, as she translated letters between my cousin in Slovakia and me. She also tried to teach me to speak and understand Slovak. I miss my frequent trips to Mount Assisi.
— Joan Stelmack
McMurray, Pa.
I speak for the rest of my family when I say thank you to your Sisters in Pittsburgh for the beautiful and warm and personal funeral you conducted for Sister Francesca. My family was so touched by it all and by your warm hospitality afterward at lunch. I also want to thank you for the faithful care and visiting of Francesca by your community. I never knew when I visited her if anyone else had been there that day or when she last had visitors. And then I learned that at least one (and often more) was there to see her every day. It was so touching to learn that, and a great comfort. Her death was a great loss to all of us, but the lovely sendoff you provided helped to ease that. God bless you all for your love and kindness to her and to us.
— Francesca Chervenak
Glenshaw, Pa.
 
I am enjoying your website, reading about "The Mount" and seeing some of the postulants of my class still doing God's work. Thank you.
— Antoinette LaScola Yurkovich
Mount Assisi Academy 1962

Thanks for all of your prayers. I continue to heal after my triple bypass and aeortic valve replacement. Thank the Lord! I am also having eye surgery, as I am now having problems with my eyes. I know the Lord will guide me. God bless all of you for your continued prayers and in serving the Lord.
— Ruben Wilburn (Spring, Texas)
St. Joseph's Class of 1959

I owe so much to the School Sisters of St. Francis. I’m a 1971 graduate of St. Francis Academy at Monocacy Manor in Bethlehem. So many of my former teachers still reside there. I also have the honor of seeing Sisters Pat and Rosemarie (formerly Sister Raymond) on an almost daily basis here in West Lawn. God has blessed me richly, and I owe so much to my SFA Sisters who mentored me during my teen years. God bless all of you.
— Amy Brown
Wyomissing, Pa

God bless you all! Thank you for your donation for food. We are grateful that you care for those in need, and they are grateful that you care for them. If they could say “Thank you,” I know they would. Please contact me if you would like a tour of our shelter so that you can see the impact of your giving.
— Tara Conroy
Light of Life Rescue Mission
Weblinks of Interest for Our Sisters