Sister Therese Martin Blehar, SCN
May 20, 1930 - August 07, 2026
Visitation: Viewing at St. Louise Convent’s Chapel on Thursday, August 13, 2026, beginning at 9:00 AM at 8200 McKnight Road, Pittsburgh PA 15237 (please enter at the garden entrance)
Service: The Wake will begin at 10:00 AM followed by a Funeral Mass at 11:00 AM Memorials may be made to the Office of Mission Advancement; P.O. Box 9; Nazareth, Kentucky 4004
Sister Therese Martin Blehar, a Sister of Charity of Nazareth, was called to her heavenly home on August 7, 2026, at the age 96 and in the 69th year of her professed religious life at Vincentian Home after a brief illness.
Sister was born on May 20, 1930, to Pennsylvania natives Michael and Mary (Solo) Blehar in Hecla, PA. She was the oldest child with 2 siblings. She was pre-deceased by her parents and her sister Monica and brother Raymond.
Sister Therese Martin entered the Vincentian Sisters of Charity (VSC) from St. Francis’s Parish, Coral PA, in the Diocese of Greensburg on September 8, 1954, and made her perpetual vows on August 15, 1960. In 2008, she transferred her vows when the Vincentian Sisters of Charity merged with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.
Sister Therese Martin received her Bachelor’s in Science in Education from Mt. Mercy College (now Carlow) and Master’s in Science in Education from Duquesne University.
Therese Martin’s first mission was teaching elementary school at St. Sebastian in Pittsburgh, just a few miles from the Motherhouse. She had almost forty students and found the switch from novitiate to teaching very challenging. Overtime, teaching became easier. After teaching at St. Sebastian for a year, Sister was changed to St. Michael in Munhall, Pennsylvania and went to St. Ursula in Allison Park the next year still teaching elementary students.
On August 15, 1960, Therese Martin made her perpetual vows right before beginning a new teaching assignment at St. Michael in Braddock for one year (1960-1961) before she was moved to St. Bartholomew in Crabtree PA. She was then returned to teach at St. Michael a year later. When she left St. Michael for the second time in 1964, Sister was missioned to St. Robert Bellarmine in East McKeesport and then transferred back to St. Michael in Braddock. From there she went to St. Mary in Uniontown followed by Holy Name in Monessen and Holy Trinity in Duquesne, teaching elementary grades at each school.
Sister was at Holy Trinity from August 1970 until June 1973 during this time she not only taught but was a building principal responsible for the teachers and classes in her building. From August 1973 to June 1978, Sister became the principal of Monessen Catholic and served as Coordinator of the nearby Holy Name Convent from 1976-78. In August of 1978, Sister was sent to lead at a new mission at St. Agnes in North Huntingdon, PA for six years as Principal. In 1978, she was reassigned as CCD Coordinator at Holy Trinity Parish in McKeesport for one year. Then, she was reassigned to St. Sebastian School to teach until she was called to help care for her mother who was ill.
In 1987, she ended her teaching career to work various ministries including as the Vincentian Motherhouse Coordinator responsible for the care of her sisters and lay staff management. In 1996, she became the Pastoral Minister at Vincentian Home providing comfort to the patients until 2008. She finished her active ministry at St Louise Convent in charge of the receptionist area until 2020 when the convent closed. She participated in the prayer ministry until she recently suffered a fall sending her to Vincentian Home for rehabilitation where she passed away after a short illness.
She is survived by her nephews Patrick (Kathy) Murray, Raymond (Debbie) and Michael (Beth) Blehar and their families as well as her religious community, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.
Funeral and burial arrangements are as follows:
• Viewing at St. Louise Convent’s Chapel on Thursday, August 13, 2026, beginning at 9:00 AM at 8200 McKnight Road, Pittsburgh PA 15237 (please enter at the garden entrance)
• The Wake will begin at 10:00 AM followed by a Funeral Mass at 11:00 AM
Memorials may be made to the Office of Mission Advancement; P.O. Box 9; Nazareth, Kentucky 40048.
