Ruth Sulava of West Leechburg is on a roll.
Nut roll, that is.
Sulava — 98 — volunteers coordinating annual bake sales for Christ the King Parish in Gilpin.
As keeper of the top-secret nut roll recipe, Sulava and her team of about 40 volunteers raise about $30,000 annually for the church.
With more than 45 years of volunteering, Sulava said she has no plans to quit.
“I believe God gives us all talents, and he expects us to use them. We are his hands on Earth,” Sulava said. “I’m using mine to help where it’s needed.”
Bishop Larry J. Kulick, a Leechburg native, said he’s known Ruth his whole life and praised her enduring dedication to the parish.
“Her faith was always integrated into her life,” Kulick said. “Her talents are so consistent of that generation — having faithfulness and being dutiful.”
Kulick said he last saw Ruth while picking up nut rolls at the parish during pre-covid times.
He recalled Ruth’s days as organist at the former St. Martha Parish in Leechburg.
“One of my images of her is her going to the back of the church and climbing up that narrow staircase. She was very active in what was then the St. Anne’s Guild,” Kulick said.
In 1975, she began her volunteer career at St. Martha’s, where she said the bake sales originated.
Christ the King bake sale staples include cookies, crescent rolls and Paska bread.
But Sulava said nut rolls are her pride and joy. Sulava said the church sells about 1,400 nut rolls at each bake sale.
“We have the best,” Sulava said. “The recipe is handed down — and I’m not telling. Everyone says they buy them at other places, but ours are the best.”
Parish secretary Sharon Robson said Sulava’s decades of volunteer dedication is impressive.
“She’s a faithful volunteer and shows leadership. It’s going be hard to replace her,” Robson said.
Ron Ravotti of Gilpin is Sulava’s nephew by marriage. He say volunteering with his aunt is always productive.
“She’s in charge, and she’ll tell you if something isn’t done right. She makes sure it’s all going right,” Ravotti said. “She looks forward to making any type of contribution to the church.”
Another volunteer effort near and dear to Sulava is her special projects sewing team.
The team has hand-sewn thousands of blankets, bibs and walker pouches for babies, sick people and anyone in need.
The sewn items are distributed throughout the parish and Pittsburgh region.
Sulava said her volunteering brings perks.
“I feel like it’s my social life,” she said.
Valley girl
Sulava grew up in Ford City, graduating from the former Ford City High School in 1940.
She worked at the former G.C. Murphy 5&10 in Ford City, did factory work to aid wartime efforts during WWII and later served as part-time organist for the parish for 25 years.
She met her future husband, Andrew Sulava, at the former Gables in Ford City.
“We met at a dance. I gave him my number but told him I was going away for a few weeks. He called me several times anyway while I was gone on a road trip,” Sulava recalled. Their first date on July 2, 1952, involved a trip to the movies.
Sulava left her Methodist faith and converted to Catholicism, and the couple married in 1953.
“I thought it was important we shared the same faith,” Sulava said.
The couple moved to West Leechburg and had three children, a son and two daughters. They were married for 58 years before Andrew died in 2012.
Ruth, or “Ruthie” as she’s referred to by many parishioners, said the loss of her son Charles at age 33, from a malignant brain tumor, was one of the hardest times in her life.
“We knew for six years,” Sulava said of her son’s diagnosis.
Sulava is mostly self-sufficient, lives independently and drives herself to and from the parish — but only during daylight hours.
Her daughters are Marilyn Marsh of Florence, S.C. and Janet Flynn of Carlisle.
She has three grandchildren and a great-grandchild with another on the way.
In her spare time, Sulava likes to watch “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune.” She enjoys crossword puzzles, sudoku, reading and crocheting.
She credits drinking milk and using Nivea skin cream as two contributors to her health and wellness.
Sulava said she enjoys overall good health but has to manage her Type 2 diabetes and arthritis.
She said a cane likely will be her next requirement to aid her mobility, but that won’t stop her from volunteering.
“Even if they wheel me in here in a wheelchair,” she said, “I’ll be helping.”