Pittsburgh Cemeteries

Category: St. Adalbert’s Cemetery

  • Wiktoria Bernatowicz Tombstone, St. Adalbert Cemetery

    A Lithuanian tombstone in a good state of preservation. European immigrants tended to bring with them their memories of what a gravestone should look like, so we find very different styles in different ethnic groups. This is a common East European style. The East European tombstones here were often decorated in very shallow relief, much of which has vanished in a century or so of erosion; but this crucifix is still visible in outline, though the details are lost.

    With the help of Google Translate, here is the inscription:

    IN MEMORY OF
    WIKTORIA BERNATOWICZ
    BORN 1860
    DIED FEBRUARY 9, 1918
    ETERNAL REST

  • Iron Crucifix, St. Adalbert’s Cemetery

    KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

    We have met a very similar iron crucifix in St. Peter’s Cemetery (Arlington), and it had the same problem: the letters fall off as they rust. Here we have no adjacent monument to give us the name, so Father Pitt has no way to fill in B–D-NS. If anyone familiar with Polish names has a guess, please leave a comment.

  • Frackowiak-Wawrzyniak Monument, St. Adalbert’s Cemetery

    A very busy Gothic design with a praying angel in an alcove and a crucifix on top. Nevertheless, though Father Pitt cannot justify it intellectually, it is still his feeling that the form of the monument is pleasingly balanced.

  • Rustic Crucifix, St. Adalbert’s Cemetery

    It is very frustrating to Father Pitt to be almost but not quite able to read the inscription on this monument. The fact that it is in Polish does not make matters easier; the fact that, while it uses the Latin alphabet, there are letters that seem to be a backwards N (like a Cyrillic И) makes it even more puzzling; but beyond those difficulties, there seem to be too many letters that are not legible at all. Perhaps they would show up in a different light.

    The monument itself is striking: a crucifix in the romantic style of a rustic stump.

    Here is the inscription, so that anyone who has better eyes than old Pa Pitt’s may attempt to read it, and perhaps leave a comment with a suggested interpretation:

  • Dominowskich Monument, St. Adalbert’s Cemetery

    The soft stone is eroding, softening the features of this sculpture to a kind of abstract peace, but she still clings to the rugged rustic cross. The rustic style, incidentally, is very much favored in St. Adalbert’s.