ELLWOOD CITY ― Frances Fotia has been taking part in the organ for church providers for 65 years. On Easter Sunday at Divine Grace Parish Holy Redeemer Church, Fotia will probably be taking part in for the ultimate time.
“It was never a job. It was my vocation,” she mentioned not too long ago.
When Fotia realized the church could be closed for 2 or three months for renovations, she felt it was a message from God that it was time to stop.
Her vocation additionally included directing the choir and taking part in for weddings.
“The people in the choir are dear to me,” Fotia said. “They are like family.”
She added, “I have played for hundreds of weddings and I’ve played for the children of couples I had played for.”
Fotia was at all times within the piano and remembers when she was a bit of lady her father Frank Folino would take her and her sister Vici to city and go to a pal who had a storeroom with a piano, and whereas the lads talked the ladies performed with the piano. The pal advised Folino, “Get those little girls a piano.”
Their father went to Schroeder’s Piano Gallery in Pittsburgh and acquired them a piano, they usually took classes from Lillian Ryder.
When Fotia was within the fifth grade at Blessed Virgin Mary College, the nuns realized she knew how you can play the piano and determined she ought to play the organ.
The very previous organ was within the balcony of the BVM Church, which is at present the car parking zone of Holy Redeemer Church.
“Father Vincent Galiano couldn’t get up the stairs so he would stand in the main aisle and give me directions and I started playing for the benediction,” Fotia mentioned.
When Fotia was within the seventh grade she started taking part in for the every day Mass day by day earlier than she went to high school.
Often the previous organ wouldn’t activate, so she would go to the even older one, a pump organ, and would pump, play and sing.
When Fotia went to highschool, she continued to play for the every day Mass and acquired a greenback for every Mass.
After graduating from Lincoln Excessive College in 1958, she attended Duquesne College for a 12 months.
Fotia continued to play after she married Frank Fotia and had youngsters.
“Sometimes I would breastfeed one of my daughters there before and after Mass,” she mentioned.
When the brand new church was constructed it included a brand new up-to-date organ.
“In 1984 I was devastated when the priest dismissed me,” Fotia mentioned.
Throughout that troublesome time, she performed the organ on the Calvin Presbyterian Church.
“The people there embraced me,” she said. “It was a truly wonderful time.”
After a 12 months at Calvin Church, Folino performed at two Catholic church buildings, one in Darlington and the opposite in New Galilee, earlier than getting the place at St. Agatha Roman Catholic Church. Within the Nineteen Nineties, St. Agatha and BVM merged to turn out to be Holy Redeemer and Fotia was again the place she began.
“God works in mysterious ways and always for our good,” she mentioned.
In 1998, Fotia acquired a level in liturgy and organ from Carlow Faculty.
Fotia mentioned she’s going to spend her retirement having fun with time together with her household.
“Well bless their hearts.”
