Tag: Croatian

  • Sapsara Monument, St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery

    Sapsara monument

    The stone has eroded so much already that only the outline of the crucifix is visible in the Byzantine cross. The inscription is still very legible, however; the monument was probably put up when Mike P. Sapsara died in 1932, but old Pa Pitt suspects the inscription has been recut, replacing an illegible original. Note that the inscription is a hybrid of Croatian and English. The photograph of Mike P. Sapsara is in poor shape, but you might still recognize him if you met him on the street.

    Mike P. Sapsara
  • Michael Paczak Monument, St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cemetery

    Michael Paczak

    Google Translate identifies the inscription as Croatian. The translation would be something like this: “Here lies my husband Michael Paczak Dubos. Born 29 Apr 1874. Died 15 Mar 1927.” The Byzantine cross is used by both Russian Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Christians, but in Pittsburgh the Byzantine Catholics make an especially big deal of it.