Sister M. Agnes Chvala

April 5, 1916 -  MAY 26, 1998

Sister M. Agnes Chvala died on May 26, 1998, at St. Margaret Hospital in Aspinwall, Pa. She was 82 and in her 66th year of religious life.

Sister was born in Zelienople, Pa., on April 5, 1916, the daughter of Stephen and Catherine (Stano) Chvala. She entered the School Sisters of St. Francis in 1931 at Mount Assisi Convent in Pittsburgh, Pa., making first vows in August 1932 and final vows in August 1938.

Sister Agnes earned a bachelor’s degree in English and German in 1939 from Villa Maria College in Erie, Pa., and a master’s degree in education administration in 1965 from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Over more than six decades as an educator, Sister Agnes taught in Catholic grade schools in the Pennsylvania towns of McKees Rocks, Northampton, Erie and Tarentum; as well as in Lorain, Ohio, and San Antonio, Texas. Sister taught English for many years at Mount Assisi Academy in Pittsburgh, where she also served as librarian and moderator of the Echoes student newspaper. After Mount Assisi Academy closed in 1978, Sister Agnes went on to minister in San Antonio, where she was principal of St. Joseph School and taught English at St. Francis Academy.

Sister served her religious community as coordinator at St. Clement in Tarentum, Pa.; as supervisor of schools from 1957 to 1971; and as director of junior professed Sisters from 1967 to 1969. Until her death in 1998, Sister Agnes also remained dedicated to prayer ministry.

Always dedicated to teaching, Sister Agnes is remembered for her ability to bring the best out of her students by expecting the best of them. She was gifted with a positive attitude and a spirit of joy and enthusiasm. When asked how she was doing, she usually answered the same way: “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Just days before her death, Sister Agnes wrote the following: “Ages has not just added years and aches and pains, it has outfitted us with greater wisdom and maturity than we have been able to claim earlier. Seeing life now with more mature eyes, we can sift out the important from the unimportant better than ever before. The gift of added years is our invitation from God to continue moving out of our tiny world of youthfulness into the wider world of loving relationships with others.”

Sister Agnes is buried in St. Francis Cemetery at Mt. Assisi Place in Pittsburgh, Pa.