Nun cemeteries

Recently, have been touring several nun cemeteries, with directions generously provided by the Pittsburgh Hash House Harriers. Here is a sample of them:

Sisters of Charity


Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth


Mount Averna

Sisters of S. Francis in Millvale


Sisters of the Divine Providence


...These nuns live long lives...

Sister Juliana Palya

Sister of Charity

Sister M. Juliana Palya, 101, a member of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity of North Hills, died Nov. 10, 2006.

Sister Juliana was in the 86th year of her religious life and entered the Vincentian Sisters of Charity from St. Mary Parish, Uniontown. She earned a bachelor's degree in education from Duquesne University and was a primary teacher for 53 years in the dioceses of Greensburg, Pittsburgh and Youngstown. She then spent eight years at the Vincentian Child Care Center, before retiring from the host department at the motherhouse.

She was one of 11 children and is survived by brother, Frank Palya of Uniontown; niece, Donna Marie Palya, also a Vincentian Sister of Charity, and many other nieces and nephews.

Friends will be received 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. today (Wednesday) at the motherhouse, 8200 McKnight Road. Mass will be in the motherhouse chapel following Wednesday's visitation. Interment will be in the sisters' cemetery on the motherhouse grounds. Donations may be made to the Vincentian Sisters of Charity or their charity of choice. Arrangements were by English Bertucci Funeral Home in Oakmont.


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Sister M. Gerard Hurka
Vincentian

Sister M. Gerard Hurka, 90, a member of Vincentian Sisters of Charity of North Hills, died Feb. 28, 2006, in UPMC Passavant hospital, North Hills.

She was in the 76th year of her religious life.

Sister Hurka entered Vincentian Sisters of Charity from St. Matthew Parish, South Side. She attended Duquesne University, earning a bachelor's degree in elementary education, and also attended Carlow College for two summers, studying guidance and leadership training in religion.

Sister Hurka taught in elementary schools for 35 years in the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Greensburg and Altoona-Johnstown and for one year in Welland, Ontario, Canada. She then served in social services in Montgomery, Ala., for 16 years before returning to Pittsburgh to serve as a pastoral minister at Vincentian Home for eight years. She retired to the Motherhouse in 1995 and became a member of the prayer ministry group.

Surviving are her sisters, Mary Kowalski, Betty Wesolowski of Pittsburgh and Irene Chervinka of California; brothers, John and George Hurka, both of Pittsburgh, and Joseph Hurka of California; and nieces and nephews.

Arrangements were handled by English-Bertucci Funeral Home Inc. Friends will be received at the Motherhouse on McKnight Road, Pittsburgh, from 1 to 8 p.m. this Friday, March 3, and from 11 a.m. this Saturday, March 4, until celebration of Mass in the Motherhouse Chapel. Interment will be at Sisters' cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds.

Memorial contributions are suggested to Vincentian Sisters of Charity.

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Sister of Charity

Sister M. Germaine Molnar, 94, a member of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity of North Hills, died April 19, 2005, in the Motherhouse infirmary.

The sister was in the 75th year of her religious life, she had entered the Vincentian Sisters of Charity from Holy Name Parish in Monessen.

She attended Duquesne University and earned a bachelor's degree in business education.

She then attended Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., graduating with a master of arts in the school of social science.

Sister Germaine also took post-graduate courses at Dayton University in Ohio and Scranton University in Pennsylvania.

She taught at St. Matthew School in South Side Pittsburgh for three years and at St. Matthias School in Youngstown, Ohio.

Sister Germaine taught business courses at Vincentian High School for 30 years. She served as congregational secretary for 16 years.

During that period, she served on the general council for four years and was elected vicar, a position she held for four years.

Surviving are nieces and nephews.

Friends were received at the Motherhouse on McKnight Road, Pittsburgh.

Mass will be offered in the Motherhouse Chapel.

Interment was at the sister's cemetery on the grounds.

Donations are suggested to the Vincentian Sisters of Charity.

Arrangements were by English-Bertucci Funeral Home.

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Sister M. Gerard Hurka
Duquesne graduate

Sister M. Gerard Hurka, 90, a member of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity of North Hills, died Feb. 28, 2006, in UPMC Passavant hospital, North Hills.

She was in the 76th year of her religious life. Sister Hurka entered the Vincentian Sisters of Charity from St. Matthew Parish, Southside. She attended Duquesne University and earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education. She also attended Carlow College for two summers, studying guidance and leadership training in religion.

Sister Hurka taught in elementary schools for 35 years in the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Greensburg and Altoona-Johnstown and for one year in Welland, Ontario, Canada. She then served in social services in Montgomery, Ala., for 16 years before returning to Pittsburgh to serve as a pastoral minister at the Vincentian Home for eight years. She retired to the Motherhouse in 1995 and became a member of the Prayer Ministry Group.

Surviving are sisters, Mary Kowalski, Betty Wesolowski of Pittsburgh and Irene Chervinka of California; brothers, John and George Hurka, both of Pittsburgh, and Joseph Hurka of California; and nieces and nephews.

Arrangements were handled by English-Bertucci Funeral Home Inc. Friends will be received at the Motherhouse on McKnight Road, Pittsburgh, on Friday from 1 to 8 p.m. and Saturday until 11 a.m. Mass will follow in the Motherhouse Chapel. Interment will be at Sisters' cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds.


Memorial contributions are suggested to Vincentian Sisters of Charity.
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Sister Carmelita Alvero
64 years of service
Sister M. Carmelita Alvero, 89, a member of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity of North Hills, died June 21, 2007, in the Vincentian Home.

She entered the Vincentian Sisters of Charity from Sacred Heart Parish, Quincy, Mass., and was in the 64th year of her religious life. Sister Alvero attended Braddock Hospital School of Nursing, became a registered nurse in 1951 and graduated from St. John Hospital School of Anesthesia in Springfield, Ill.

Before serving as an anesthetist, she was a social worker at Mother Mary Mission, Phenix, Ala., and in Savannah, Ga., for nine years. Sister Alvero worked as a registered nurse and an anesthetist throughout the country, including in local nursing homes in the region.

Surviving are a sister, Kathleen Malley of North Easton, Mass., and nieces and nephews.

Friends were received and a Mass held at the motherhouse in the North Hills. Interment was at the sisters' cemetery on the motherhouse grounds. Donations may be made to the Vincentian Sisters of Charity.

Arrangements were by English Funeral Home & Cremation Services Inc., Oakmont.

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Sister M. Germaine Molnar

Taught business

Sister M. Germaine Molnar, 94, a member of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity of North Hills, died April 19, 2005, in the Motherhouse infirmary.

The sister was in the 75th year of her religious life. She entered the Vincentian Sisters of Charity from Holy Name Parish in Monessen.

She attended Duquesne University and earned a bachelor's degree in business education, then attended Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., graduating with a master of arts in the school of social science.

Sister Germaine also took post-graduate courses at Dayton University in Ohio and Scranton University in Pennsylvania. She taught at St. Matthew School on Pittsburgh's South Side for three years and at St. Matthias School in Youngstown, Ohio.

She taught business courses at Vincentian High School for 30 years and served as congregational secretary for 16 years. During that period, she served on the general council for four years and was elected vicar, a position she held for four years.

Surviving are nieces and nephews.

Friends were received at the Motherhouse on McKnight Road, Pittsburgh. Mass will be offered in the Motherhouse Chapel. Interment was at the sisters' cemetery on the grounds. Arrangements were by English-Bertucci Funeral Home.

Donations are suggested to Vincentian Sisters of Charity.

Kiski River footbridge

Post-Gazette article

Mentioned in Waymarking

Sidaway Suspension Bridge in Cleveland

Sidaway Suspension Bridge in Cleveland, off Sidaway Ave, about 4 miles South East of downtown, is a pedestrian footbridge connecting two neighborhoods of cleveland, separated by a ravine. Built in 1930 and closed in 1966 after vandalism, it is now being considered for rennovation.

Homeless Memorial Geocache

For Thanksgiving, will place a micro geocache in this location,

N 40° 26.174
W 079° 59.955

It's a tree and there is a hole on the trunk big enough to stick a 35mm canister or similar container, big enough to include a small roll of paper as log. The underpass right next to the tree has plaques of names of homeless people that died. Sort of a memorial. It is maintained by Operation Safety Net.

National Homeless Memorial Day

north side geocaches

two new geocaches:

Germans Love a View

Why Y

Harriers

Orienteering at Quail Hollow State Park, Ohio

On the return trip from a weekend in Cleveland, stopped in a Ohio state park about 20 miles east of Akron, where the North East Ohio Orienteering Club had their final meet of the year, and where it was the inaugural event for a new map. As we drove south from Cleveland towards the rendez-vous, it started raining, and we were wondering if the cleveland orienteerers were going to show up in great numbers for this map inaugual event. As we rounded the final turn, and saw the parking lot completely full, and had to park in the overflow lot, we then knew that, yes, the clevelanders are not sissy people that shy away because of a few raindrops. With only 10 minutes late from the 1 PM mass-start, changed clothes into my cheap-o clothing that I've accumulated from my flea-market foraging outings, and ran to the cabin where registration was going on. Luckily, the map had the controls pre-printed, and so marking the controls by hand with pen was not necessary. Showed up at the gazebo, recognized a few familiar faces, apparently this was going to be the second mass-start of the day, as there was another one half-hour earlier, and two minutes later, a small number of us were off. I intended to go North and from there, sort of go anti-clockwise. From the first seconds into the run, noticed that two others were going on the same direction, so I figured we were thinking alike. Control 2 was easy right on trail. The next control, 32, was a different story. With two other veteran orienteers, we combed the woods looking for the white and orange retina-flash, but it just didn't seem to pop up. I then extended the radius and sort of went South towards the trail, and saw it. Didn't really stop to verify the accuracy of the control position, and went on back on the nearby trail. Route to 31 was mostly on trail in coniferous woods. For 30, got to the trail junction, and used that as attack point. Returned to my steps back to the trail junction, and continued North and used another trail junction as attackpoint and found 29. Then towards nearby trail to get to 28, slowed down a bit because I was fearful of overshooting it, and went bushwacking in the woods. Found it without problems. Next was 27. Routed towards the trail South of 28, then to trail junction, crossed stream and used the faint streambed as attackpoint to go to 27. Got somewhat confused by lack of features, and wasn't always sure I was on the right streambed, but somehow found the control. Then, decided to go to 18. Went South to find the faint trail, and followed it. After turning South near the open field, apparently I must have followed a trail that is not mapped, and took me on a slightly downhill route that bottomed at a faint stream. I assumed that was the stream I was looking for that was near 18. I found one marsh, then a second marsh. All seemed confirmed by the map and compass. But no control. There was another orienteerer looking for it. He said he has been looking for it for 20 minutes, and was ready to give up. I must have spent 12 minutes on it, criss-crossing the land, getting as far as the open fields. After a third and futile pass, decided to abbandon. Was bummed. Decided to route on a small trail to get to 26 and 13. Saw a house in the nearby woods. Seemed really big. Could figure out where that house was, since it just didn't match my mental model. Kept on going, and literally stumpled on a control. It was control 18, about 300 meters away from where I thought it was. The location of the nearby trail and small wooden bridge confirmed its position. So where did I end up ? how did I end up there ? good questions, will later analyze, I am saying to myself. And in the meantime, I am saying L-U-C-K-Y. I am back in a good mood. After trail intersection, found 26 easily, then 13, ran straight trail to intersection near 23, got to 23, but got the exit strategy wrong, and went East when I should have gone North or West (lost a minute here). Got to 11, then decided to sacrifice 14, and go straight to 22. Then, running on the paved road, got to the trail intersection to go to 15, then backtracked, crossed the paved road, and went to 17, an easy find for 40 points. On route to 24, followed a trail thinking it was the bigger trail. When I saw it turned South, I just bushwacked North for 20 meters and found the major trail I initally intended in following. Then got to the powerline, and at the second pole, saw the control. Continued on the powerline, then followed a trail to a nearby hill, atop which found control 25. Then went for 16, following small trails. From 16, wanted to go to 10, but got afraid of choosing among a maze of small trails, so I just went for the easy route and went along the big clearing. Saw Randy running from the woods towards me, so I guessed he was coming from a control. Atop the hill saw the cemetery and the control. Followed the route Randy was going, East, and crossed the clearing of late-fall tall grasses and two-meter tall thorny dry plants. Need kevlar pants for this vegetagion. Found a trail, and took it downhill going South, with intention of going to 19 and finding it from the clearing south of it. Saw a mountain biker through the woods, and thought that is the trail I wanted to get to in approach towards the control, and bushwacked 20 meters and short-cutted to it. Turned out it was a different trail than the one I inteded to follow. Afraid of not recognizing an attack point for 19, went North to follow the parallel trail, and at its 90-degree turn, returned to the small trail I was running on earlier, so I could at least have a clearer idea of the nearby attackpoints. Saw the bolders mapped as features, and saw the rootstock. Then went South towards the clearing, and found that small protuberance of the clearing into the woods. Didn't see the control, so I checked the clue sheet. That is when I noticed it was crossed out. It was the control that was not placed. I made the mistake of not crossing it out on the map when I was at the registration table, and totally forgot about it. Geez, I say, some lost time here, definitely. But still in high spirits, I set my intention on 20. On the first pass, didn't find it. Returned South back to the trail, and carefully checked every turn after the rootstock. Then, at a point I just call "felt right", set the compass to North, and went. Saw the hill top I was on earlier in my first pass, still no control, saw on the map there was a second hill, and kept on going, and then, magic, saw the control. Got back on the trail, somehow forgot to leave that trail for 12 after the creek crossing, so lost some time, and after finding 12, wanted to get to 5, but went up North too much and after bushwacking and crossing creek, ended up on a trail that instead of taking me to 5 as I mentally thought I was doing, I instead ended up finding 1. Now I was totally confused. Still had 6 minutes left, went for 21, and from the paved road turn, initially thought of following the short trail but stopped when I saw the barrage of thick thorny vegetation, and said "this is bad", and backtracked back to the paved road, and from the nearby parking lot, got to 21, then back to the parking lot, followed trail to 7 and then to 5. As I got closer to 5, saw Randy running across the clearing of tall grasses for 5. I got there 20 seconds later, and followed Randy to the gazebo, probably with a minute late penalty. By the time the meet ended, it was raining lightly, temperature seemed to have dropped a bit, hands felt cold. Talking to the others, it seemed many could not find control 32. Olga said it probably was a bit south from where it was mapped. Could be. Talking to an other participant who came with a young woman and a dog, he said he had the advantage of living in a house with the back into the park. He showed me on the map which house, and I immediately recognized the house as the one I saw through the woods near the control I couldn't find for 12 minutes. I told him of my mis-route, and he said that indeed there is a brand new trail where I was pointing. The group congratulated Bob "Lighting" Boltz for his mapping, and everyone seemed content and in this last meet of the Year 2007, exchanged words of "see you in the Spring".