October Light by Anita Gevaudan Byerly

Description

October Light

by Anita Gevaudan Byerly

$14, paper

ANITA GEVAUDAN BYERLY of Edgewood, age 80, passed away on Saturday, November 21, 2009. Anita raised a son and daughter as a single parent while working as a secretary. At age 50, she enrolled in the University of Pittsburgh and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in English Writing. Anita was Poet-in-Residence at St. Edmund’s Academy for eight years and was secretary of the school for 31 years. She is a Fellow of the Western Pennsylvania Writers Project and the Madwomen in the Attic at Carlow University. She taught at the Young Writers Institute at the University of Pittsburgh and served on the editorial staff of Riverspeak. Anita was a member of the Squirrel Hill Poetry Workshop, the Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania Poetry Societies and performed with “The Tea Time Ladies” poetry ensemble. Her work has appeared in the Pittsburgh Post- Gazette, The Pittsburgh Quarterly and other publications. Anita won the In Pittsburgh Newsweekly Poetry Competition in 1987 and other poetry competitions and was nominated in 2004 for the Mary Roberts Reinhart national award in poetry. Anita was the author of October Light, published in 2008 and Digging a Hole to China published in 2001. Beloved mother of Robert L. Byerly, Jr. (Dorothy) of North Huntingdon and Karen Katilius (Gerard) of Murrysville; grandmother of Brooke Morrow (Jim), Ashley, Benjamin and Cathryn Vasunda, Daniel, Kimberley and Kate Katilius; great-grandmother of Anna and Kaelyn Morrow; sister of Leon Gevaudan of O’Hara Twp. and Mary Ann Shaffrey of Hampton. Friends welcome Sunday 6-8 p.m; Monday 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. at PATRICK T. LANIGAN FUNERAL HOME, TURTLE CREEK/ MONROEVILLE CHAPEL, 1111 Monroeville Ave., Turtle Creek, 412-823-9350. Mass of Christian Burial in St. Anselm Church of Word of God Parish on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Memorial donations may be made to St. Edmund’s Academy, 5705 Darlington Road, Pgh., PA 15217 or The Western PA Writing Project @ The University of Pittsburgh School of Education, 526 Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. A Memorial Reading Reception in memory of Anita, will be held at a future date. www.laniganfuneralhome.com