Life in Pictures

October 2022 — January 2023

The collection of images below REFLECTS the story
of the U.S. Province over the past FOUR months —
INCLUDING CHRISTMAS, special events and simple joys.

Click on any image to view it in larger format.

*Sister Gracy Kundukulam — adorned as a tomato — steps into the photo booth with some fun-loving friends during the 2022 Monocacy Farm Food Festival on October 16, at Monocacy Manor.*

*Sisters Loretta Motko and Ann Marie Yenca, along with Sister Ann Marie’s niece, Kathy Timko, enjoy the Monocacy Farm Food Festival on October 16.*

The timing of Sister Frances Marie Duncan’s fall visit to the U.S. made it possible for her to attend the 2022 Monocacy Farm Food Festival on October 16, where she and Sister Bonnie Marie Kleinschuster showed off their Monocacy Farm Project sweatshirts.

*Sisters Barbara Brown and Bonnie Marie Kleinschuster stopped moving long enough for a smile during the Monocacy Farm Food Festival on October 16.*

*Sister Roseann Velas helps youngsters with their autumn craft projects during the Monocacy Farm Food Festival on October 16.*

*Sisters Gracy Kundukulam and Loretta Motko show off the spooky and sweet Halloween cake they made for the Sisters at Monocacy Manor on October 31.*

*Sister Virginia Rose Carroll sings during the Transitus service at Mt. Assisi Place on October 3.*

*With a little help from Sisters Hilda Marotta and Kathy Kudlac, Sister Marian Sgriccia distributes provincial coffee mugs and water bottles to our Pittsburgh-area Sisters on October 3.*

*Sister Jeanne Marie Ulica lights a candle during the Transitus service at Mt. Assisi Place on October 3.*

Sister Marie Therese Sherwood (right) joined St. Vincent DePaul members and youth from The Catholic Community of St. Matthias on November 13, in packing food baskets and delivering them to Franklin Food Bank in Somerset, N.J., to put food on the tables of needy families in time for Thanksgiving.

Sister Pat Marie Buranosky, Marian Sgriccia and Pat Mahoney — accompanied by Linda Hyde and Nicole Buchlmayer — stop by the photo booth at the Sisters Place fall fundraising luncheon on October 7, at Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. Supported by communities of women religious in Western Pennsylvania, the ministry helps tp provide stable housing and other support for single mothers and their children.

*Sister Mary Lou Metro shows off the Home Tech basket she won in the Sisters Place raffle on October 7.*

Eli Stogsdill, head farmer at Monocacy Farm Project, shares a hands-on educational experience on October 22, with young students from Chrysostom Academy, which opened on our Monocacy Manor property in time for the 2022-2023 school term.

*Mary is surrounded by the splendor of autumn on October 27 at Mt. Assisi Place in Pittsburgh.*

Sister Jo Goolish (right) and Mary Castro, head of religious education at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Von Ormy, Texas, address 50 leaders of the Women’s Acts Retreats on September 10. The gathering focused on the personal relationship that Jesus has with each of us.

Ohio Valley Marine Corps League Detachment No. 882 visited Mt. Assisi Place on October 5, to “retire the colors,” lowering the tattered American flag and raising a new, larger flag on the pole near the main entrance. The ceremony also presented an opportunity to honor veterans living and and deceased who are near and dear to the Residents, including those in our Sisters’ families.

On behalf of the St. Vincent DePaul Society at the Catholic Community of St. Matthias in Somerset, N.J., Sister Marie Therese Sherwood (center) accepts a $500 check on November 14, from the Ifeatu-Ifediche Anambra Women of New Jersey toward Thanksgiving baskets for those in need. The ladies who presented the check are also St. Matthias parishioners. The Ifeatu Ifediche Anambra Women are a nonprofit organization that supports underprivileged women and children in the United States and Nigeria.

Sister Elaine Hromulak treats her sisters Theresa Cammarata (left) and Bernadette DeMay (center) to a yummy McDonald’s lunch on September 29, at Mt. Assisi Place. Theresa is a permanent resident there, while Bernadette spent time in respite care there last fall.

Joanne Osborn, a 1973 graduate of Mount Assisi Academy and current Mt. Assisi Place employee, shares a smile with Peyton Celesti, a graduate of our former Mount Assisi Academy Preschool, on October 5. A high school senior, who excels in musical theater, Peyton delivered a soul-stirring rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner during the personal care home’s Retiring the Colors ceremony, during which the old tattered flag lowered and a new one raised on the pole there. Joanne is wearing her father’s Coast Guard cap.

*Classmates Helen Busovicki DiFalco, Sister Kevin Berdis and Sister Anece Salay celebrate their collective 78th birthdays with ice cream and good conversation on January 31, at Mt. Assisi Place.*

*With a colorful getup for the Mt. Assisi Place Halloween party on October 31, Sister Virginia Rose Carroll assures us that you can’t possibly be afraid of a witch with a smile that sweet!*

*It was quite a moooo-ving scene when Nicole Buchlmayer and Kelly Spino, physical therapist at Mt. Assisi Place, both showed up for the Halloween party dressed as cuddly cows.*

*Can you guess what Sister Barbara Ann Webster was for Halloween? With her shiny headpiece and her crafting glue gun strapped on like a space laser, she’s a shooting star, of course!*

*Sisters Rosalia Giba and Karen Buco got in on the fun during the Mt. Assisi Place Halloween party on October 31.*

*Sister Pat Marie Buranosky makes a vocation appeal to Karen Vevers, Mt. Assisi Place activities director, who dressed as Sister Mary Hilarity for the Halloween party on October 31.*

On November 6, a 1892 Steinway & Sons Model-B Victorian concert grand piano was dedicated in memory of Sister Marietta Bankos by her nieces and nephews, Edward (pictured) and Lorie Filipovits and Joseph and Karen Lesko. The piano is at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Catasauqua, Pa., where our dedicated Associate Gary Walbert is pastor.

*The presence of Chrysostom Academy at Monocacy Manor is apparent with attractive signage and the daily presence of the students and staff.*

*Sister Bonnie Marie Kleinschuster mixes business and pleasure on October 6, by taking a phone call and cuddling with Bella the Pom, the office mascot of St. Francis Center for Renewal.*

*Sister Gracy Kundukulam enjoys a visit from her New York-based cousin and extended family on November 25, at Monocacy Manor.*

Sister Yolanda Escamilla shows off her Pittsburgh connection by posing with Joel Hernandez, one of her clients at Living Days Adult Day Care in San Antonio Texas. Joel sported his Steelers gear on a day when clients were encouraged to wear the attire of their favorite football teams.

Sisters Jo Goolish (center) and Yolanda Escamilla joined alumnae from the St. Francis Academy Class of 1971 to sponsor a food drive for the poor in San Antonio, Texas, this fall. The drive ended on November 15, with a lovely luncheon of chicken caldo (soup). The weather was cold, but the spirits of the “girls” were high as they shared their favorite family Thanksgiving celebrations.

Sister Georgette Dublino, resident Dana Funk, and employee Carolyn Klingensmith take part in Mt. Assisi Place’s 2022 Memorial Service on November 16. After a three-year break due to the pandemic, the service returned this year, prayerfully remembering 48 Residents and employees who passed since February 2020. Current Residents and employees welcomed back families of the deceased for a special evening of scripture and song.

*An avid participant in the Poetry Club at Mt. Assisi Place, Sister Karen Buco recites one of her poems during the group’s December 2 gathering.*

*Sister Marie Therese greets Max, a parishioner's 11-year-old pup, during Blessing of the Animals at The Catholic Community of St. Matthias in Somerset, N.J. on October 2.*

*Delicious Thanksgiving desserts await the Sisters at Monocacy Manor on November 24.*

Some of our Sisters in the Pittsburgh area attended the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s Mass for Deceased Religious on November 6, at the home of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Baden, Pa. Can you spot any of our Sisters among the crowd?

Photos of Sisters Norberta Kralosky, Grace Chermack and Francesca Parana adorn a ceremonial table at Vincentian Home in Pittsburgh on November 2, for the nursing home’s annual memorial service for deceased residents.

*Sister Rosalia Giba visits the grave of her parents, John and Julia, at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Cemetery on November 4.*

*Sister Marguerite Stewart and Lauren Martin arrange Christmas decorations at St. Francis Center for Renewal on November 30.*

On December 26, Sister Frances Marie Duncan accompanies Sisters from the India Province on a trip to the Thumboormuzhy Dam. Since the water level was low, many people climbed on the rocks near the water. When the river is full, the rocks on which the Sisters are perched cannot be seen.

*Sister M. Virginelle Makos shows off the holiday handiwork of the challenged adults she ministers to in Bethlehem, Pa. “I so enjoy them,” she says.*

*Mr. and Mrs. Claus put the squeeze on Sister Mary Martha Zammatore during St. Francis Center for Renewal’s Holiday Craft Fair & Bake Sale at Mullen Hall on November 5.*

*St. Francis Center for Renewal’s sweet-smiling Lauren Martin bakes Christmas cookies on December 2, for SFCR’s Cookie Decorating Day.*

Sisters Denise Olshausky and Anece Salay collaborate to erect the detailed Fontanini village at Mt. Assisi Place on December 2. The Sisters stepped in to help on short notice when the former Marian Hall family who erects the village each year experienced a medical emergency over Thanksgiving weekend.

The staff of St. Francis Center for Renewal — Lauren Martin, Lisa Davis, Joanne Anderson and Daniella Normando — surround Mrs. Claus (lovingly brought to life by Sister M. Virginelle Makos) during SFCR’s Holiday Craft Fair & Bake Sale in Mullen Hall on November 5.

Sisters Jeanne Marie Ulica, Pat Marie Buranosky and Mary Lou Metro visit Sisters Place on November 22 to deliver a beautiful painting donated to the nonprofit by Dale and Rita Stewart, Sister Pat Marie’s sister and brother-in-law. Done by an Italian artist, the painting had been in the Stewart Family for more than two decades. As part of their monthly Chapter of Renewal, Sisters from Mt. Assisi Place took up a collection and brought along a basket of goodies for the staff at Sisters Place. Also shown at right is Carol Pachuta, sister of late Sister Geraldine Ann Kasper, who graciously transported the painting in her van. While they were there, the group also enjoyed a tour of the new Sisters Place location, which helps single mothers find stable housing and employment.

On December 21, Sister Frances Marie Duncan visited a classroom in India where Sister Limci (second from right) teaches a special education class. Also shown are Sister Reena Kuriyan and one of the CMI fathers who run the school.

*Sister Marguerite Stewart gets in the on colorful action during St. Francis Center for Renewal’s Cookie Decorating Day on December 11, in Bethlehem, Pa.*

On December 21, Sister Frances Marie Duncan visits Amala Hospital in Thrissur, India, where some of our Sisters work. There is a special Ayurvedic Hospital and research center there, which is headed by the Sister in the white habit. They grow their own herbs in this garden and surrounding area, process the herbs, and make their own medicines. Also pictured are Sister Reena Kuriyan, provincial of the India Province; Sister Nadhia, who works in medical social work at the hospital; and Sister Reena Varghese, who teaches nursing. She served in the U.S. at Marian Hall for a few years.

Sister Bonnie Marie Kleinschuster and St. Francis Academy alum Debbie Stevenson hang out at the Monocacy Farm Project table during St. Francis Center for Renewal’s Holiday Craft Fair & Bake Sale in Mullen Hall on November 5.

Sister Jo Goolish works with Mary Castro (head of religious education programs at Sacred Heart Parish), Diane Saenz (secretary at St. Gerard Catholic High School) and Toni Bazaldua (an active member of Sacred Heart) in October to transfer religion books from the high school to the parish, both in San Antonio, Texas.

*Sisters gather for a delicious Thanksgiving dinner in the Monocacy Manor kitchen on November 24.*

*Sister Georgette Dublino and Karen Vevers, activities director, lead a fun and festive Thanksgiving sing-along at Mt. Assisi Place on November 22. Sister Lorita Kristufek provided the music.*

Sister Jeanne Marie Ulica shares a smile with Sister Barbara Ann Lengvarsky during the Mt. Assisi Place resident Christmas party on December 16. Sister Barbara Ann is among four members of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth who reside at MAP and join our Sisters for prayer and celebrations.

Sisters Yolanda Escamilla and Jo Goolish take part in the St. Francis Academy Alumnae Association Remembrance Mass on November 19, in San Antonio, Texas. Celebrated at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church, the service included the Prayer of St. Francis, singing of the SFA school song, and a photo display remembering deceased alumnae. The celebrant wore a chasuble adorned with the San Damiano Cross.

*Sister Anece Salay shares some fun stories with resident Dana Funk during the Mt. Assisi Place resident Christmas party on December 16.*

Sisters Anece Salay, Jeanne Marie Ulica, Cecilia Jacko, Bernadine Marie Stemnock and (mystery arm) Barbara Ann Webster raise a toast during the Mt. Assisi Place resident Christmas party on December 16.

*A lovely Christmas tree adds some sparkle and shine to the dining room at San Damiano Convent in Pittsburgh on December 16.*

*Sister Roselyn Kuzma greets Mt. Assisi Place’s own Santa Claus — resident Joseph Hepburn — who made a moving entrance to the resident Christmas party on December 16.*

*Sister Eve Blostic shows off the festive holiday eyewear she won during the Mt. Assisi Place resident Christmas party on December 16.*

Sister Cecilia Jacko enjoys opening the present each Mt. Assisi Place resident received on December 21, courtesy of Advanced Home Health. The package included a calendar, blanket, puzzle books and other goodies.

This crucifix made entirely of clothes pins was among the impressive works Sister Barbara Ann Webster displayed during a Pittsburgh-area crafts fair in November. All of her projects use common household items as part of a reduce, reuse and recycle theme.

*Sister Joyce Burkhart was among the Mt. Assisi Place residents to bake and decorate Christmas cookies on December 15.*

*As Sisters Francine Garganta and Rosaria Shina watch, Sister Marie Bernadette Kelleher opens a gift on January 6, at Monocacy Manor.*

*Sandwiched by Sisters Donna Pusch and Ann Marie Yenca, Sister Irene Novak takes part in the gift exchange at Monocacy Manor on January 6.*

SNOWBALL SHOWDOWN AT MONOCACY

Click above to view the comical video that Marge Roncolato, St. Francis Academy alum and Villa Clare aide, captured of our Sisters at Monocacy Manor engaged in an indoor snowball fight on January 6. Other than side-splitting laughter, no one was injured and nothing was broken because the snowballs are made of a soft, fluffy material designed for indoor fun. You’ll want to have your sound on to enjoy the shenanigans.

Sister Steeni of the India Province snapped this selfie of Sister Frances Marie Duncan and the Sisters in Shahada, India, on December 1. During her visitation trip to the province, the Sisters took Sister Frances Marie on a “field trip” to a local sugar cane plant and, on the way back, stopped in this beautiful field of sunflowers.

*The great staircase at Monocacy Manor is adorned in greens, lights and bows for the holidays.*

*Sister M. Virginelle Makos got creative on Christmas Day when she arranged the breakfast fruit in the shape of a Christmas tree.*

*Our Sisters at Monocacy Manor gather in the Reception Room for prayers, songs and a fun gift exchange during their Epiphany Celebration on January 6.*

CHRISTMAS CHAOS

Giggle along as Sisters Francine Garganta, Jean Makovsky, Gracy Kundukulam and Barbara DeStefano play a fun game of Right-Left on January 6 at Monocacy Manor. As Sister Bonnie Marie Kleinschuster reads a holiday story, the Sisters must spin accordingly whenever they hear the words “right” or “left” in the story. Turn up your volume to hear the story and laughter as they try to keep up.

Sisters Yolanda Escamilla and Jo Goolish collaborate with the St. Francis Academy Class of 1971 to collect coffee for the the Catholic Worker House in San Antonio, Texas, throughout December. The effort helped to ensure that the less fortunate at least have a cup of warm coffee on cold days.

*Sister M. Virginelle Makos engages a sizeable gathering of prayerful people during “Simply Prayer: The Meaning of Christmas” on December 6, at St. Francis Center for Renewal.*

Sisters Joyce Burkhart and Pat Marie Buranosky (who took the photo) join Cindy McCullough (Mt. Assisi Place employee and 1975 alum) and residents Betty Donovan and Ruth Ann Ondo for a morning Rosary and Communion service in Antonia Hall at Mt. Assisi Place on December 27.

*St. Francis Academy alumnae gather on January 13, at Teka Molino in San Antonio, Texas. The group hosts a monthly breakfast for all alums, usually at a different local eatery each month.*

*Sister Marie Therese Sherwood leads an evening retreat on January 3, with members of the St. Vincent DePaul Society at The Catholic Community of St. Matthias in Somerset, N.J.*

Among the stops during her visitation trip to India in December, Sister Frances Marie Duncan spent some time at Jubilee Hospital on December 23, with Sister Lissy Matthew, head of the gastro ICU, and two of her staff members.

Sister Frances Marie Duncan celebrates Christmas in the dining room of the provincial house in Kerala, India, with Sisters Vincy and Rincy Thermadam. The biological twins are both nurses — one at Jubilee Hospital, and the other at Paalana Institute.

*On January 17, the always resourceful Sister Frances Marie Duncan shows off the leg support she rigged for herself so she can keep tooling around the Generate in Rome while nursing a broken ankle.*

Sisters Karen Buco and Eve Blostic get ready to dig into a decadent truffle made by alum Joanne Osborn as the featured dessert for the Sisters’ monthly birthday celebration at Mt. Assisi Place on January 29.

Postponed by a COVID outbreak among choir members in December, St. Francis Center for Renewal’s “Caroling & Candlelight” event finally happened on January 8, as “A Celebration of the Epiphany.” Replacing the traditional Christmas Vespers at Monocacy Manor, the event filled the White House Chapel with song and stories told by our Sisters.

Bea Zepeda Alvarado, a 1965 graduate of St. Francis Academy, presents a donation check on behalf of St. Francis Academy Alumnae Association to Sister Jo Goolish in January. The monies were raised at the 2022 SFA Summer Dance, which is held each year in the former SFA gym.

LIFE GOES ON …

Do you have photos to share with the community in the next Life in Pictures photo gallery? Send them by email or text to Nicole at 412-513-7087 or nbuchlmayer@schoolsistersosf.org.

Life in Pictures