Diploma in hand — 78 years later

By Deb Erdley

Ethel Safo Peshok always encouraged her children to pursue education.

On Sunday, her friends and family joined to honor the lessons the 96-year-old Monessen woman imparted to them. As a special Mother’s Day surprise, they arranged for her to receive the high school diploma she sacrificed 78 years earlier when she was forced to leave Monessen High School to care for her younger siblings.

Peshok knew something was up when her daughters insisted she follow them to the church social hall following the 10:30 a.m. Mass at Epiphany of Our Lord Church in Monessen.

The petite, neatly coiffed woman sat smiling as her granddaughter, Beth Sands, explained that the family wanted to do something for her. Peshok began to blink back tears as Monessen Board School Board President Roberta Bergstedt spoke of Peshok’s contributions to the community over the last nine decades.

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