Frances Zele Peternel
Frances Zele Peternel, 95, of Bethel Park, passed away Sunday, December 27, 2020.
A daughter of the late Frank and Frances Tomsic Zele, she was born February 8, 1925, in Coritenza, Italy, which is now in Slovenia. She sailed to the United States at the age of six, and her family settled in Strabane.
She was a former editor of the Canonsburg Daily Notes Newspaper, a founder of the Canonsburg Chamber of Commerce and a former director of the Slovenian Savings Loan Association in Strabane. She was the widow of the late Arthur F. Peternel, a World War II veteran who liberated the concentration camps at Dachau, Germany. Later, he became the public works director and engineer for the municipality of Bethel Park. They settled in Bethel Park in 1958 and have remained there since. Frances was a member of St. Valentine’s Roman Catholic Church and Seniors Club, the Gold Card Club of Bethel Park, the SNPJ Lodge 138 of Strabane and the American Fraternal Union. She also enjoyed traveling, baking, reading, politics and spending time with her family.
She is survived by her children, Arthur (Martha) Peternel of Franklin Park and Frances Manning (late Timothy) of Willoughby Hills, Ohio; her grandsons, Steven and Andrew. She was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Frances Zele; her husband, Arthur Peternel; her son-in-law, Timothy Manning; and her brothers and sisters-in-law, William and Agnes Peternel, Sylvan and Jane Peternel, Albert Peternel, Elsie McQuillis, Elvira and James Irwin, Colette Beckman and Frank Charles Peternel. She was also a well-loved and admired aunt to many nieces and nephews.
Friends will be received from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, December in Paul Henney Cremation & Funeral Tributes, 5570 Library Road, Bethel Park, PA 15102. Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 1 p.m. Wednesday in St. Valentine Catholic Church. Interment will follow in Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in her name to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, www.jdrf.org or Tri-Community South EMS, http://tcsems.org/donation www.henneyfuneralhome.com