Sara Vancik
The Church of Jesus Christ member
Sara Vancik, 99, of Monongahela, died Monday, January 6, 2014, in Victoria House, Monessen.
She was born June 3, 1914, in Saint John, Kan., a daughter of Rev. W.H. and Sadie Mains Cadman.
Mrs. Vancik resided in Pennsylvania since 1919. She was a 1932 graduate of Monongahela High School, and then attended the Douglas School of Business in Charleroi.
She was employed at the former First National Bank in Monongahela for several years, before starting her family.
She was a lifelong active member of The Church of Jesus Christ. She was a member of Ladies Uplift Circle, founded and organized by her mother in 1920. After her mother’s death in 1959, Mrs. Vancik took on her mother’s work of completing and publishing the Concordance of the Book of Mormon. It was presented to the Church in 1974.
After the completion of the concordance, her dream of living among the Native American population became a reality when she and her husband, Paul, were given permission to live on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona. For 10 years, they helped at the mission and became lifelong friends with many of the native people. Mrs. Vancik used her crafting skills, crocheting hundreds of baby layettes and blankets, and hand-delivered them to the local Native American hospital. She crocheted baby layettes and blankets until she was 97.
Mrs. Vancik was an eager participant in other church events, including Sunday school, vacation Bible school and church conferences, where she was able to worship with a worldwide membership. She loved the inspirational hymns and served as church organist for many years, and was also a piano and organ teacher and played organ for the Frye Funeral Home when needed.
She is survived by four daughters, Sara Pauwels and husband John of Monessen, Paulette Griffith and husband Joe of Waddell, Ariz., Cathy Vancik-Davis and husband Jim of Santa Rosa, Calif., and Karen Smith and husband Chuck of New Eagle; 15 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren.
Deceased, in addition to her parents, are her husband, Paul A. Vancik, who died December 14, 1985; a daughter, Marilyn Collins, who died in 1991; and three sisters, Ruth Mountain, Mabel Bickerton and Grace Landrey.
The Victoria House and Amedisys Hospice staff provided Mrs. Vancik with great compassion and care before her death.
Friends will be received from 2 to 8 p.m. Friday in Frye Funeral Home Inc., 427 West Main Street, Monongahela, and from 10 to 11 a.m., the time of funeral services, Saturday, January 11, in The Church of Jesus Christ, 525 Sixth Street, Monongahela, with elders Robert, Joshua and Jeremy Nicklow officiating. Interment will follow in Monongahela Cemetery, Monongahela.
Memorial contributions may be made to Humanitarian Foundation Fund, c/o The Church of Jesus Christ, 525 Sixth Street, Monongahela, PA 16063. When making your contribution, please earmark it for Native Americans.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.fryefuneralhome.com.