Jacob A. Dvorak

Jacob Anthony Dvorak, 82, passed into eternal life at home on Holy Thursday, with his wife Dolores and granddaughters Katie and Mary praying at his side.

Jake was born in Brackenridge on June 25, 1935 to Jakub and Zofia Dworak, the youngest of five children.  He was preceded in death by his parents, sisters Helen Kuzma, Ann Wadyko, Cecelia Napierski, Antionette Kochanski, and beloved infant grandson Jacob Michael O’Connell.  

Jake was a member of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament parish, where he served as a lector, Eucharistic Minister, a member of the Resurrection Choir, as a member of the parish council and parish finance council.  While a member of the former Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish he served in similar roles and as a CCD teacher and director of religious education.  He loved his Catholic faith and attended daily Mass for as long as he was able.  

Jake was active in the pro-life movement beginning in 1970, serving on the board of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, as President of Pennsylvanians for Human Life—Southwest Region, and President of both Lifeline and Welcome Little Ones, which are crisis pregnancy centers.  He was awarded the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. 

Jake graduated from Har-Brack High School in 1953 and went to work at Alcoa as a lab technician while taking classes at Carnegie Tech.  In 1958 he became a full-time student at Notre Dame, working his way through school as he forged an abiding love for the Fighting Irish and met the love of his life, his wife of almost 56 years, Dolores.  Jake always thought of his Notre Dame education as God’s special blessing for the son of an immigrant coal miner who spoke Polish before he spoke English and was always proud of having lived and worked at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of the Holy Cross while attending classes there. 

After graduating from Notre Dame in 1960 with a degree in chemical engineering, Jake went to work at PPG Industries.  While there he pursued graduate studies at Carnegie Mellon University and received a patent for his research work.  He remained at PPG in Springdale until his retirement in 1999. 

Jake served on the board the Harrison Township Water Authority for twenty years, serving as chairman for several years.  He also served as president of the West Point Parents Club of Western Pennsylvania, organizing the first Service Academies Ball, which continues to this day. In addition, he headed the Notre Dame Club of Greensburg-Uniontown, where he became legendary for the tailgates on the many trips he organized to Notre Dame football games.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his six children:  USAF Colonel Mary Dvorak MD, Jacob A. Dvorak, Jr. (Jennifer), Miriam Wennersten (Mark), Jacinta O’Connell (Michael), Therese Dymek (Thomas), Army Lt. Col. John Dvorak (Megan), and fourteen grandchildren.

A favorite quote of Jake’s came from the late Congressman Henry Hyde: “When the day comes, as it surely will, when we face that awesome moment, that is a terrible moment of loneliness:  you have no advocate and are there alone standing before God—but I really believe that those of us in the pro-life movement will not be alone, that a choir of all these little voices never heard in this world will say to God ‘spare him, because he loved us.’’’

Family and friends are invited from 2-8 PM on Monday, April 2, 2018 at the ROBERT PETERS FUNERAL HOME INC., 1521 Freeport Road, Natrona Heights, PA 15065 (724-224-7730), where a parting prayer service will be held at 9:30 AM on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. A mass of Christian Burial will follow at 10:00 AM at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 11th and Carolina Street, Natrona Heights, PA 15065 with the Rev. Aaron Kriss, officiating.  Burial will follow at Our Lady of Hope Cemetery, Tarentum. A prayer vigil will be held in the funeral home at 1:45 PM on Monday.  For online condolences and more information please visit us at www.petersfamilyfuneralhomes.com.

Those wishing may offer a mass for Jacob for the repose of his soul.

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