Answering His Call

sister karen buco

I was born on July 25, 1941, at Allegheny Valley Hospital in Natrona Heights, Pa., to my proud parents, Andrew and Angela Buco (now deceased). Everyone who knows me recognizes that I am quick to get things done, and being born was no exception! I couldn’t wait to be born and came two months early. I was so tiny that I could fit in the palm of my dad’s hand and was not expected to live. I truly believe that, from the time I was formed in my mother’s womb, God called me to His service.

I attended St. Clement Parochial School in Tarentum, Pa., where I grew up was taught by the School Sisters of St. Francis. When I was in the first grade, I knew that was exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. The love, dedication and joy of the Sisters inspired me. I really owe my vocation to the efforts of my seventh and eighth grade teacher, Sister Agnes Chavala, who invited and encouraged me to nurture my call to religious life.

It was through Sister Agnes’ hard work that I was able to convince my parents to allow me to attend high school at Mount Assisi Academy in Pittsburgh. I entered as an aspirant in September 1955, became a postulant in February 1958, and was received into the Novitiate on August 7, 1958. I pronounced my first vows on August 8, 1959, and made my final profession on August 3, 1964. I celebrated my Silver Jubilee in 1984.  

I live life to the fullest and delight in being who I am — a School Sister of St. Francis serving God and His Church. For me, in a spiritual way, I see myself as clay in the potter’s hand being formed by God each day of my life to witness His goodness and love to all those I meet on the way to my journey home. As Sister Agnes often said, I can also say: “I wouldn’t have it any other way!”

Sister Anna Mae Kuzma, OSF

Note: Sister Anna Mae died on October 13, 2014. Her blood sister, Sister Roselyn, also is a member of our community.

I was born two weeks after Christmas. In second grade, Sister Helen said we would get whatever we asked for on our First Communion day, so I prayed to lead a holy life, die a happy death and receive Jesus before I die. I’ve had numerous opportunities to lead a holy life of service in the Church, and I trust that I will be blessed with the other two petitions in due time. As a consecrated religious for over 60 years, consecrated life for me has been about being my best and presenting my life to God as a gift.

My dad had said that his first born would be a boy, that he would name Francis and he would become a priest. Well, I wasn’t a boy and my name was not Francis, but I became a Franciscan Sister! I received the call to religious life when I was very young. My dad’s sister and his three cousins were Franciscan sisters and visited us often. I had sisters teach me in school, and I experienced their happiness and felt drawn to their lifestyle.

I have been surrounded by Franciscan spirituality all my life. Both my parents and grandparents were secular Franciscans. We often prayed together as a family, and my dad often asked us about becoming a sister or priest. At age 13, my pastor took the eighth grade girls to Mount Assisi in Pittsburgh and, as soon as I entered the front door and saw the Sacred Heart statue with its outstretched arms welcoming me, I knew that this is where I belonged. I entered the following fall and attended the high school at Mount Assisi. After the initial stages of postulancy and novitiate, I professed my vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and have been a School Sister of St. Francis for more 60 years!

After all these years, I can say that I never regretted one moment. I want this for others. At my daily communion, I thank God for those He will choose for this great Franciscan family.

Sister Georgette Dublino, OSF

As I look back at my decision to become a School Sister of St. Francis, I really felt no certainty that this was where God was calling me. I had come to love the Sisters, and only in my junior year of high school, did I give some thought about a religious lifestyle.   Although I tried my best to forget about it, it was always in the back of my mind. No one else thought it was a good idea either because I was such a tomboy and  always with the boys. Gradually “being with the boys” shifted to “boyfriends” and dating. For some reason, I didn’t feel satisfied. Finally I told myself, “I need to get this off my mind. I need to prove to myself that I don’t fit in a religious lifestyle!” So I took a “leap in faith” and guess what? I discovered that I not only fit in religious life, I loved it, and continue to do so.

Sister Frances Marie Duncan, OSF

Unlike Sister Georgette, I always wanted to be a Sister for as long as I can remember. As a little child, I was always helping the Sisters in Church or in school and, whenever anyone asked me what I wanted to do with my life, the answer was always the same — I wanted to be a Sister and teach. After a weekend retreat in junior high school, I was convinced more than ever that God was calling me to be a School Sister of St.  Francis. My parents, however, were not so willing to let me go after eighth grade (at that time, you could enter and complete high school while preparing to become a Sister). We finally agreed that I would attend one year of public high school and, if I still wished to enter, I could. So it was as a young teenage girl of 15 that I entered the aspirancy program of the School Sisters of St. Francis.  I completed my sophomore to senior years at St. Francis Academy in Bethlehem, Pa., an academy run by our Sisters, and I entered the postulancy in February of my senior year. After graduation in August, I was received into the novitiate of the School Sisters of St. Francis and made my profession the following summer.  I have been professed for 40 years and I am continually grateful that God has called me to this way of life.

Sister Jo Goolish, OSF

A romantic encounter with my dad at a parish dance prevented my mom from becoming a sister when she was 20.  After marrying my dad and becoming pregnant with me, my mom prayed all nine months that the Lord would call her first child to religious life. Bouncing into life, I began at the early age of 3 to wear a dishtowel on my head for a veil and a rosary from my waist, playing Sister. Although I dated and had boyfriends, I always knew in the deepest part of me that I would enter a religious lifestyle. I was supported by my mom, grandma and aunts. The desires to be a teacher, an artist and world traveler were my other heart wishes, which the Lord built into my religious lifestyle in His generosity. All my dreams continue to be realized, beyond my expectations.