Nurse sought to improve herself and the lives of others

Growing up on a dairy farm near Greensburg, Louise Glod Frankola learned the value of hard work, selflessness and generosity — values that would serve her well as a nurse, an artist and a mother throughout her life.

To her daughter Karen, Ms. Frankola was an excellent role model whose energy was unparalleled.

“She really had a drive to make something of herself,” said Karen Frankola, of Durham, N.C.

Ms. Frankola wanted to be a schoolteacher but her parents couldn’t afford to send her to school. She decided to help others in another way. During World War II, she attended the former Mercy Hospital School of Nursing with the intention to serve as a nurse in the war.

The war ended before Ms. Frankola graduated, however, so she worked in a doctor’s office, where she met Walter Frankola, who had come in with a bad cold and planned to move back to New York after recovering. Instead he married Ms. Frankola in 1951 and the couple settled in the McKeesport area. Within four years, she had three children, and when she was nearly 40 she gave birth to her fourth. After her youngest child entered school, Ms. Frankola worked three nights a week as a nurse at the former Homestead Hospital.

To her children, this is just one of the many examples of the hard work that defined Ms. Frankola’s life until she died May 11 at Juniper Village at Forest Hills of complications of old age at 91.

Throughout the years her energy and work ethic never wavered. After retiring as a nurse when she was 69, Ms. Frankola volunteered at the Greenock Elementary School in Elizabeth Township. There, she worked oneon-one with students on a wide variety of academic subjects. In her later years, when she moved into an assisted living community, she still tried to help others.

“Even though she was the resident there, she would always see if there was something she could do to help somebody else, and got frustrated when she couldn’t,” said John Frankola, Ms. Frankola’s son who lives in Wilkins.

Ms. Frankola also found time to focus on her artwork and bowling game after her children left home. She painted with oils and acrylics while working nights as a nurse, and later moved to quilting, crocheting, lace-making and knitting. Winning numerous art awards, she never sold her work, instead giving it away to family members.

A daughter of two Polish immigrants who settled in Greensburg to create a better life for their family, Ms. Frankola followed in their footsteps and helped her four children — much like how she helped anyone in need — in the pursuit of their own goals.

“Neither my mother nor father graduated from college,” said Ms. Frankola’s daughter Karen. “All four of us have master’s degrees.”

In addition to her son and daughter, Ms. Frankola is survived by two other children, Maureen Frankola Fisher of Woodland Hills, Calif., and Jim Frankola, of Saratoga, Calif.; three sisters, JoAnn Balker of Mt. Lebanon, Barbara Volpe of Greensburg, and Rose Ann Purcell, of Cincinnati; eight grandchildren and one great-grandson.

A Mass will be held 9:30 a.m. June 24 at St. John Fisher Catholic Church, 33 Lewin Lane, Churchill. Ms. Frankola’s family suggests donations to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, 535 Smithfield St., Pittsburgh, PA 15222.