A Sad Goodbye

At this Sunday's Mass at Transfiguration Church in Shamokin, the parish said farewell to Sisters Bernitta and Juliet SSMI for the final time.

The Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate order have been providing sisters of the religious education of students at Transfiguration Parochial School since the 1940's. Last year, the school closed at the end of the school year. This year the parish operated a pre-K and kindergarten. This coming fall, the pre-K and kindergarten will close.

At one time, Transfiguration, St. Stan's, St. Edward's, St. Mary's, St. Joe's, St. Stephen's, and St. Anthony's in Ranshaw operated parochial schools with help various orders of nuns in the greater Shamokin and Coal Township Areas. Now they are all gone.

St. Anthony's and St. Mary's were the first to go. St. Stephen's and St. Joe's were merged into West Catholic in the early 1970's. St. Stan's and St. Edwards schools merged along with West Catholic into Mother Cabrini. Mother Cabrini along with Holy Spirit of Mount Carmel formed Lourdes Regional Elementary where it currently operates today. As of this time this writer doesn't know the residence of the religious faithful at Lourdes Regional.

It is just sad to see the last of our neighborhood schools closing and a part of the history of past gone, maybe forever. Good luck to the Sister Servants!!!

Mnohaya Lita