Sister M. Sylvia Pavlochin
October 13, 1920 - July 29, 2011
Sister M. Sylvia Pavlochin died on July 29, 2011, in Bethlehem, Pa. She was 90 and in her 65th year of religious life.
Sister M. Sylvia was born in Northhampton, Pa., to John and Elizabeth (Lelko) Pavlochin. She was baptized Anna in the church of St. Andrew in Catasauqua, Pa. Her father worked as a railroad laborer to support his wife and four daughters. Anna attended public school for 11 years but, because of the Great Depression, decided to quit school and help her family financially.
She worked for four years as a shipping and packing clerk with Clyde Shirt Company. During those years her dream of answering God’s call to religious life grew stronger, so she saved some of her earnings to pay for her entrance into the community. In August 1943, Mother Methodia Bradac welcomed Anna to Mount Assisi Convent in Pittsburgh, Pa., where she resumed her studies at Mount Assisi Academy and received her high school diploma.
Anna was received into the community in August 1945 and given the name of Sister Sylvia. During her novitiate, Sister Sylvia taught classes in the fifth and sixth grades at Mount Assisi Convent and took lessons in art and piano to prepare for her many years of teaching. She made first vows in August 1946 and was assigned to teach second grade at St. Mark School in McKees Rocks, Pa. She later taught at parish schools in New Jersey, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and eastern Pennsylvania.
Sister Sylvia returned to Mount Assisi Convent for the summers to continue her education and, in August 1951 professed final vows. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in education and, later, a master’s degree in education from Seton Hall University in Orange, N.J.
Throughout her years of ministry, Sister Sylvia taught at Assumption in Jersey City N.J.; St. Anthony in Webster, Mass.; SS. Cyril & Methodius in Boonton, N.J.; St. Theresa in Hellertown, Pa.; St. Ignatius Loyola in West Lawn, Pa.; St. Gabriel in Stowe, Pa.; St. Joseph in Oradell, N.J.; St. Ann in Emmaus, Pa.; SS. Cyril & Methodius in Clifton, N.J.; Blessed Virgin in Northampton, Pa.; SS. Cyril & Methodius in Bethlehem, Pa.; and St. John Neumann in Palmerton, Pa. After 42 years in the teaching ministry, Sister Sylvia spent eight years in parish ministry visiting the elderly in Westfield, Mass.; West Lawn, Pa.; and North Walpole, N.H. In 2004, she settled at Monocacy Manor in Bethlehem, Pa., and dedicated her time to community service and prayer.
Sister Sylvia was a fun-loving person who enjoyed teaching. She was always dressed neatly and appropriately — in public and in private — especially when she spent time in chapel for liturgy or praying privately before the Blessed Sacrament. Her great love for Mary was very evident in her prayer life. She loved her nieces and nephews and Penn State Nittany Lions football. Sister Sylvia saw the beauty of God in all of nature but especially in the deer that grazed outside her bedroom window.
Sister Sylvia is buried in St. Francis Cemetery at Monocacy Manor in Bethlehem, Pa.