of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary
(Gertrude Gielas)
February 9, 1921 – October 26, 2002
Saint Joseph Province
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
“The sisters will value learning as a treasure given them by Jesus, from which they will later enrich others.” (Blessed Frances Siedliska as cited in For Me to Live is Christ. p. 152)
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on February 9, 1921, Gertrude was one of eight children of Francis and Anna Slupski Gielas. She was baptized on February 20, 1921, and confirmed on March 15, 1937 by Bishop H. C. Boyle at Saint Hyacinth Church in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh. For the first four years the Bernardine Sisters (then in the parish) taught her, and from the fifth grade, the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth.
Gertrude’s religious vocation had early roots. She remembers a casual moment around the family Christmas tree when she was four or five years old listening to her mother and her aunt question her future when she grew up. “I decided there and then I would be a sister. I had observed the sisters and admired them for their good example, their holiness and their patience with the children. I entered the aspirancy with several of my neighborhood friends. However it was only Genevieve (Sister Vincentia Warmus) and Viola (Sister Mira Sokolowski) and I who persevered at Nazareth.”
Learning that the provincial superior, Mother Hilary Okon, was to go to Rome for a general chapter at the date scheduled for the postulant reception, Gertrude begged for an earlier date in order to receive her veil from Mother Hilary. Wish granted, on April 17,1938, she received her postulant veil from Mother Hilary. Sister M. Aniceta was received into the novitiate in Saint Joseph Province on July 15, 1939, made her first profession in Pittsburgh on July 16, 1941, and final profession of vows on August 17, 1947, also in Pittsburgh.
She received her high school diploma from Mount Nazareth Academy in 1939 and her B.S.Ed from Saint John’s College of Cleveland in Ohio in 1956.
Sister Aniceta was an elementary school teacher from 1941 to 1957 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Detroit, Michigan; and Cleveland, Ohio. Although content with her education ministry in the United States and the proximity to her large extended family, “without hesitation, Sister Aniceta consented to the superior’s request in 1957 to serve in the then ‘new CSFN venture’ in Australia,” writes her childhood friend, Sister Mira.
In her adopted country she taught in the elementary school and also began graduate studies, receiving a Master’s degree in Education from The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia in 1977, completing a thesis entitled (using Australian English) The History and Organization of Adult Education with Particulary Reference to Australia.
Because of recurring health problems, Sister returned to the United States in 1984, but continued in the teaching ministry. From 1984 to 1992, she served in Dillonvale, Ohio as a teacher and principal. She also furthered her own continuing professional development, taking workshops on contemporary issues of peace, computer and adolescent religion programs.
Sister Aniceta was a gentle woman and a faithful friend to her companions in community. Sister Marie Rose Kotz related that throughout the years visiting with Sister Aniceta was a joy. “Her kind ways invited me to be like her and to imitate her spirit of loving all in the name of Jesus. I looked forward to times of prayer and our sharing memories of earlier years.”
In 1992 Sister Aniceta returned to Pittsburgh where she ministered in community service at the provincialate. She retired to Holy Family Manor in 1998 where she continued her ministry through prayer, service and kindness in community. Sister was a multi-talented person gifted with skills in leather tooling, calligraphy and art.
Eventually her complicated health issues prevailed, yet could not stifle her spirit and willingness to follow generously whatever God wanted. She continued to teach by living life with deep faith. Sister Marie Rose, especially attuned to Sister Aniceta’s gentle acceptance of life’s joys and difficulties, again writes, “I pray to God that some day I, too, can face life, and even death, as she did and leave behind a gentle memory of a gentle woman.”
After repeated hospitalizations, Sister Aniceta died on October 26, 2002, at Mercy Providence Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Preceded in death by her parents and her brothers and sister, Sister Aniceta was visited frequently by her loyal nieces and nephews, particularly during her final months. Her funeral liturgy took place in the provincialate chapel on Monday, October 28, 2002, at 10:30 a.m. followed by burial in Saint Joseph Cemetery on the provincialate campus.
Digitized by S. Brendan O'Brien, CSFN
Instructor
School of Arts & Sciences
History Department
Holy Family University
9801 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19114
215-637-7700 x3279
srbrendan@holyfamily.edu
http://web3.holyfamily.edu/srbrendan
Last updated: February 2006