The story of Sister Valeria’s collection of Fontanini figurines began when she was stationed at St. Pius X back in the mid 1970’s. She and Sister Ann Lohrfink would travel to Lancaster, PA each year in the summer and buy a figurine or two with money saved during the year. Sister Valeria’s first Fontanini stable was somehow destroyed but one of the members of the parish bought her the present one. When Sister started to display her collection, one parishioner began giving her a new figurine once a year and some students also added to her collection.
When Sister Valeria moved to Villa Assumpta, she was asked to display her beautiful collection in the Heritage Room. Each year she would carefully place each piece on the table for Sisters and visitors to enjoy. Sister Valeria died August 20, 2017, before her passing she gave her treasured Fontanini collection to Archives. It is a great honor to be able to display it in her honor each Christmas.
