Friends remember Mt. Pleasant area nun, Verna Montessori School teacher

This weekend, friends will gather to celebrate the life of Sister Lucy Paladini, a beloved nun who taught at Verna Montessori School near Mt. Pleasant for more than 25 years.

Sister Lucy died in January after moving back to her native Italy in 2014. Saint Pius X in Mt. Pleasant will hold a memorial mass at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Many remember the profound impact that Sister Lucy had on their lives, including Cynthia Kandra of North Huntingdon.

In 2001, Kandra was hired as an assistant teacher at Verna Montessori School. There was a problem, however: Kandra had a 2-year-old daughter who needed supervision during the school day.

At first, the sisters at the school said Kandra’s daughter could stay in the convent while Kandra taught. However, this situation “distressed” her daughter.

Seeing this, Sister Lucy, who taught preschool and kindergarten at the school, said the daughter could stay in her classroom to be around other children and in the same building as her mother.

This proved to be a perfect solution. As Kandra’s daughter spent time with Sister Lucy and the other children, she grew to love going to the classroom and became “very attached” to the nun.

“(Sister Lucy) had such a big heart for these kids, and especially our daughter,” Kandra said. “I would say (Sister Lucy) was the mother she had at school.”

The nun spent 27 years teaching young children at the Montessori school, from 1985 to 2012.

Born in Italy, Sister Lucy moved to the United States in 1967. She served at St. Joseph Hall until 1980, and then transferred to the Ivrea Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception Five years later, she began teaching at Verna Montessori after completing her studies.

Friends described Sister Lucy as a grandmotherly, firm and kindhearted teacher to the 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds she instructed.

“She never raised her voice. Sister Lucy was never, never loud,” said Cecelia Rohosky, a Mt. Pleasant Township mother whose son was taught by Sister Lucy. “If the children wanted to hear her, they had to be quiet so they could hear her — and they were. They were always well-behaved. She had a gift, not only being a nun, but being a teacher.”

The children followed Sister Lucy like ducklings following their mother. Rohosky and the sisters recalled the children would tend to repeat everything Sister Lucy said.

With a thick accent, Sister Lucy sometimes mispronounced English words. For example, the nun called woodpeckers “woodpeekers” — and her students followed suit.

Even if the students’ parents or other teachers corrected the children, they insisted the woodland birds were called “woodpeekers” because “sister said.”

Sister Lucy had a “strong faith” that was reflected in her moral teaching, according to Sister Letizia Tribuzio, the school’s upper elementary directress.

“She instilled in (the children) her faith in Jesus,” Sister Letizia said.

In Sister Lucy’s classroom, the children learned about the importance of forgiveness, kindness and responsibility. Kandra added Sister Lucy focused heavily on the biblical teaching of Jesus as the Good Shepherd found in John 10.

“She taught that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and the Good Shepherd loves His sheep and cares for His sheep,” Kandra said.

This teaching stuck with Kandra’s daughter so much that, when she was in fourth grade, she sketched a drawing of Jesus as the Good Shepherd for Sister Lucy. Kandra said Sister Lucy was “very fond of” her daughter’s drawing.

Outside of the classroom, Sister Lucy was remembered for her generosity, genuineness, cooking skills and love for gardening.

The nun had few possessions and often gave away items she received. On her friends’ birthdays, Sister Lucy devoted her time to baking special cakes for them.

“Anything she had, whether it was knowledge or food or her love, she was so giving,” Rohosky said. “It wasn’t a sacrifice to her. It gave her joy to give other people joy.”

Sister Lucy often cooked meals — including her famous meatballs and apple pie — for the nuns at Ivrea Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception, an order found in 11 countries worldwide but with its only U.S. community near Mt. Pleasant, according to the Diocese of Greensburg.

In 2014, Sister Lucy suffered a stroke. The nuns took her to several hospitals in the Pittsburgh area. Each doctor said she would die in a few days and sent her home.

However, the sisters didn’t give up hope. A personal doctor and the nuns cared for Sister Lucy, who couldn’t speak or swallow.

At each meal, the doctor gave Sister Lucy one drop of water until eventually she could drink more water and eat. “Little by little,” Sister Lucy’s health improved.

“(She lived) eight years after the doctors said, ‘There’s nothing you can do; just take her home and she will die in two days,’ ” said Sister Angelina Grimoldi, who teaches at the Montessori school. “She lasted eight years.”

Several months after her stroke, Sister Lucy moved back to Italy, where the sisters would visit her.

Her sisters and friends said they will remember her love, selflessness and teaching forever.

“It’s such a big loss,” Kandra said through tears. “We hope that her legacy lives on in the children she’s taught and the people whose lives she’s touched.”