“This will be our perpetual footprint in the Pittsburgh area. We owe it to our Sisters buried there to give them a monument worthy of their service.”
A Lasting Legacy
CEMETERY IMPROVEMENT PROJECT TO HONOR PIONEER SISTERS,
MOUNT ASSISI ACADEMY FACULTY
When we sold Mount Assisi Convent — our Pittsburgh motherhouse complex — in 2019, the adjacent St. Francis Cemetery behind the building was not included in the sale. It remains the property of the School Sisters of St. Francis and, over the long term, will be maintained by the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s Parish Cemeteries Association, even after the last of our Sisters is buried there. The cemetery is the final resting place of more than 140 Sisters, including some of the Pioneer Sisters who established our roots here in the United States in 1913.
As the cemetery is situated on a slope, access to it has always been somewhat limited, especially to those with mobility issues. Likewise, many of the statues are crumbling, and even the marble monument for foundress Mother Hyacinth Zahalka shows signs of severe sun damage. Therefore, our Provincial Council has started The Lasting Legacy Fund, a campaign to restore and renovate aspects of the cemetery that have degraded over decades of unpredictable Pittsburgh weather.
“This will be our perpetual footprint here,” says Sister Marian Sgriccia, provincial minister. “We owe it to our Sisters buried there to give them a monument worthy of their service.”
The Sisters have enlisted the help of a landscaping company for a plan to restore the statues and damaged headstones; improve the landscaping with new stones, trees and flowers; and upgrade access to the cemetery with more secure steps, additional handrails, and new benches for visitors. The goal is for the $60,000 project to commence with spring cleanup this year — but we cannot do it without your help.
We welcome donations of any size from our friends and alumnae to help us improve and maintain this lasting legacy and to respectfully honor our Sisters who, among their many ministries, established Mount Assisi Academy in 1928 and helped to shape and inspire its students over the course of five decades.
Contributions to The Lasting Legacy Fund may be made online by clicking here (choose Lasting Legacy Fund from the drop-down menu during the donation process). You may also send a check payable to School Sisters of St. Francis, 4900 Perry Highway, Suite 201, Pittsburgh PA 15229.
Click here for a list of Sisters buried in St. Francis Cemetery. For more information, please contact us at 412-761-2855 or administrationusa@schoolsistersosf.org.
