Three Christmas Trees and a Jewish Cemetery

These are photographs I took in December 2020 and January 2021 in McKees Rocks. I helped Bob Dudek set up the white-light Christmas trees in the sanctuary of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, and they were decorated with new replacement ornaments created by my brother Glenn and Creative Hands before the resurgence of the pandemic made rendered worshiping in person impossible. As a result, few people got to see these trees in person.

I also took some pictures of the historic Beth Hamedrash Hagodol-Beth Jacob Cemetery near Good Shepherd, directly across from the Sto-Rox High School athletic field. This hillside represents a monument to the Pittsburgh Jewish community that once called McKees Rocks its home before migrating the Hill and East End of Pittsburgh.

The colorful Christmas tree belongs to 81-year-old Ellie Sturvist, who since 1982 and until recently was a member of Good Shepherd and served as church council and Mt. Calvary Cemetery over the years.

(Sorry, the photos are in reverse order!)

Below are the tombstones of my grandparents buried at Mt. Calvary Cemetery, just up the hill in Kennedy Township.

This is the grave of my maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Ziegler Ghee (1903-1946).

George W. Ghee (1905-1994) and Luella Collins Ghee (1908-2001), my maternal grandfather and step-grandmother.

Benjamin Franklin (Frank) Simpson (1907-1959), my paternal grandfather.

The view down the hill at Mt. Calvary Cemetery.

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