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Century-old Crucifix added to Catholic cemetery
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MILTON — Approximately 100 years ago, a zinc statue depicting Christ as he would’ve appeared on the cross was crafted by skilled artisans. Through the decades, time took its toll on the piece.
Recently, the historic statue received new life as it was mounted to a steel cross and placed in the St. Joseph Catholic Church cemetery near Milton.
Church parishioner Jim Seksinsky spearheaded a project to have the statue mounted on a cross and placed in the cemetery. According to Seksinsky, the statue was one of several the church obtained from the Holy Family Convent in Danville.
The convent was closed in 2018 by the Sisters of Christian Charity, with the remaining sisters being relocated to New Jersey. Geisinger Health System subsequently purchased the convent to be used for office space.
Sekinsky said the parish was given the opportunity to retrieve some of the statues from the property.
“This piece was located in their chapel,” Sekinsky said, of the 70-pound Christ statue. “It was pretty well destroyed. The left arm was off. “The statue, evidently something happened to it when it was displayed outside,” he continued. “They took it inside.”
Doug Bertanzetti, a St. Joseph parishioner, spent 80 to 100 hours restoring another piece of art featuring two plaster statues which the church received from the convent. That piece represented disciples in the Garden of Gesthemane. Bertanzetti was also involved in restoring the Christ statue.
According to Sekinsky, Bertanzetti consulted with experts in the field from the Pennsylvania College of Technology to confirm the statue was made of zinc. On the back of the statue, Sekinsky said a plaque was located naming Daprato Statuary Company of New York and Chicago as its original builder.
“They’re still in business,” Sekinsky said of the company, noting that it has roots in the Tuscany area of Italy. He said Bertanzetti also spoke with the company about the makeup of the statue.
“It’s at least 100 years old,” Sekinsky said, of the statue.
Bertanzetti was able to weld the arm back onto the statue, and paint the entire piece
As this was taking place, Sekinsky said parishioners sought steel which could be formed into a cross to mount the statue upon. Vel Holcombe, a church parishioner who formerly owned Milton Steel, was able to secure steel beams to be used for the project. A retired bridge engineer with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Seksinsky requested corten steel to be used for the piece.
“It has a composition of chrome, tin and copper,” Seksinsky said, adding that it’s composition helps to protect it from the elements. Patrick Shaw welded the 250 pounds of steel to form the cross, which the statue was mounted upon. A group of parishioners worked together to erect the piece in the cemetery.
Seksinsky noted that a roof-like structure was placed over the crucifix.
“It brings your eye to it,” he said. “The roof over the crucifix is a pretty standard thing in Europe.”
The material, used on houses in Europe, is made of galvanized metal, Seksinsky explained.
The roofing material was purchased from Best Buy Metals of Tennessee.
“They guarantee it for 40 to 50 years,” Sekinsky said.
After dark, a solar light illuminates the piece, which Sekinsky said was strategically placed in the cemetery. “You can see it coming onto Cemetery Road from any direction,” he said. “The cross and corpus identifies this as a Catholic cemetery.” He noted the first person was buried in the cemetery in 1792. Sekinsky was glad to see parishioners work together to erect the crucifix. “Several parishioners were involved and they had the expertise to put this together,” he said. Eventually, Sekinsky said the congregation plans to add some benches and a garden in the area where the crucifix is located.
In addition to the crucifix and the work representing the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, Sekinsky said the St. Joseph catholic Church also received a statue of Joseph holding baby Jesus.
That piece, which did not need to be restored, has been placed at the St. Joseph Parish Center.
Staff writer Kevin Mertz can be reached at 570-742-9671 or email [email protected].