Deceased: 2011-04-17
Diocese: PITTSBURGH
Seminary Graduation Year: 1959
CSM Graduation Year: 1963
Rev. George Saladna, Pastor of St. Alphonsus RC Church, Springdale, passed away Sunday, April 17, 2011. Father was born in Millsboro (Washington County) on January 5, 1933, the sixth of eight children born to John G. and Mary V. Lengvarsky Saladna. He was educated in the public schools of East Bethlehem Twp., now part of a larger jointure called Bethlehem-Center. He attended St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA as a chemistry major, where in his junior year of college, he decided to enter the priesthood, and was accepted as a candidate for the diocese of Pittsburgh. The next two years were spent at St. Vincent Seminary, where he earned a degree in Philosophy in 1955. Fr. Saladna was sent for theological studies in Rome, and he attended the North American college there, with studies at the Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest on Dec. 20, 1958 and finished his theology studies, returning to the diocese. Father served briefly in two parishes (Holy Trinity, Moon Run and St. Raphael, Pittsburgh) before being sent back to Rome and Jerusalem for graduate studies in Sacred Scripture. After three years in Rome at the Biblical Institute and the Ecole Bublique de Jerusalem, he returned to Pittsburgh and served two years at Ephiphany, Downtown. The bulk of his priestly service for the people of the Diocese of Pittsburgh was spent at three assignments: 12 years as assistant to the Rector of Saint Paul Seminary, West End Pittsburgh, 15 years as Pastor of Saint Gabriel the Archangel Church on Pittsburgh’s North Side and for 18 years as Pastor of St. Alphonsus Church, Springdale. He also served as Director of the Diocesan Program for the Permanent Diaconate and oversaw the ordination of the first Permanent Deacons in 1974. While serving in the above assignments, Fr. Saladna also taught scripture at St. Vincent Seminary and SS Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Seminary on a part-time basis. He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Frank and John Saladna, and three sisters, Ann Saladna, Loretta DuChez and Barbars Nicklos. Surviving are two sisters, Matilda Phillips of Holiday, FL and Dorothy Vislosky of Yardley, PA. Parishioners and friends will be received Tuesday from 3 to 6 p.m. in the CHARLES B. JARVIE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 801 Pittsburgh St., Springdale. Mass of Translation will be at 7:00 p.m. in St. Alphonsus Church with visitation from 8 until 9 p.m., following Mass. Visitations will be Wednesday in church from noon to time of Christian Funeral Mass at 2 p.m. with the Most Rev. David A. Zubik as celebrant. Burial will be in Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Peters Twp. Memorial tributes may be made to St. Alphonsus Church, Springdale, PA.
