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Catherine Elizabeth Borovatz Keller
Catherine Elizabeth Borovatz Keller of Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, died on 15
August 2020 at UPMC Pinnacle West Shore Hospital after a short illness.
She was born on 16 November 1933 in West Franklin Township, Armstrong County,
Pennsylvania to Michael F. and Anna C. (Pavlinac) Borovatz, both proud
naturalized US citizens who emigrated from Croatia at the beginning of the
twentieth century.
She grew up near her birthplace in a converted one-room schoolhouse that her
older siblings had once attended, surrounded by the beautiful farmland and woods
of western Pennsylvania. Fluent in Croatian as well as English, she was part of
a loving extended family from both the old and new countries and recalls an
idyllic home life despite the uncertainties of the Great Depression and World
War II.
Catherine attended Worthington Borough School and Worthington-West Franklin High
School. In high school, she excelled at her studies while participating in
chorus, drama, girl’s basketball, and other activities. Graduating in 1951, as
valedictorian of her class, she was offered admission to Seton Hill College but
chose to remain at home to be close to her family.
For the next eight years, she worked for the Safe Deposit and Title Guarantee
Company (later part of Mellon Bank) in Kittanning, attaining the positions of
head teller and administrative assistant to the branch manager.
During her working years, she enjoyed bowling and other pastimes with her
coworkers and friends and volunteered extensively at her parish, St. John the
Evangelist Catholic Church in Coylesville.
At the tender age of 19, she also helped her parents and siblings to build a new
family home in Worthington; her primary roles were to oversee finances,
coordinate work schedules, and complete all of the interior finishing including
drywall, paint, and varnish.
After she married Donald Lee Keller on 22 August 1959, Catherine moved to
Harrisburg and then a year later to Dillsburg. There she devoted herself to
making a loving, comfortable home for her husband and son and in her spare
moments pursued her hobbies of gardening, stamp collecting, antiquing, sewing,
needlework, and reading.
A confirmed anglophile, she loved British Commonwealth stamps and possessed an
encyclopedic knowledge of the British royal family including a remarkable
ability to remember significant dates connected with royalty. When her son
entered St. Joseph School in Mechanicsburg, Catherine found the time to
volunteer as a teacher’s aid, typist, playground monitor, and chaperone for
numerous field trips and picnics.
The chance purchase of a trailer-full of used books in 1984 led Catherine to a
second career in the business world. From 1990 to 2004 she ran a bookstand at
Haar’s Flea Market in Dillsburg, building an impressive inventory and a wide
circle of friends among her customers and the other vendors. She recalled this
time as one of the happiest of her life as it allowed her to combine her love
for people with her interests in reading and business. An early adopter of
electronic commerce, she began selling books on line in 1998 and maintained her
store on ABE Books through the end of her life.
Her faith played a central role in Catherine’s life, and her Catholic
upbringing gave her the strength and understanding to face many trials. After
moving to central Pennsylvania, she was a member of St. Catherine Laboure parish
in Harrisburg, St. Joseph parish in Mechanicsburg, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Parish also in Mechanicsburg. As a founding member of St. Elizabeth’s, she
claimed the third right-center pew as her regular seat when the building opened
in 1979 and relinquished it only grudgingly over the years when extraordinary
circumstances demanded. She always enjoyed greeting new clergy, staff, and
parishioners upon their arrival; one of these encounters led her to serve as an
RCIA sponsor and to gain a close lifelong friend.
Catherine was preceded in death by her parents and her husband as well as one
infant brother Michael and seven adult brothers and sisters: Peter J. Borovatz,
John F. Borovatz, and Margaret F. Borovatz of Worthington; Albert W. Borovatz of
Kittanning; Mary I. Lewis of Shippensburg; and Anna R. Gang of Canton, Ohio.
She is survived by her son, Donald M. Keller, who was blessed to have such a
loving mother, friend, and confidant and who will miss her greatly.
Friends may call at the F. Duane Snyder Funeral Home, 119 Bear Street,
Worthington PA from noon to 1 pm on Saturday, August 22. A prayer service led by
the Rev. Louis Pascazi will take place at 1 pm followed by a procession to St.
John the Evangelist Catholic Cemetery and a graveside committal.
Arrangements by F. Duane Snyder Funeral Home, Worthington, PA. |
