Julia R. Swink

Julia R. Swink, age 92, a longtime Monaca resident passed away on Thursday evening, Sept 18th at the Otterbein Marblehead Senior Center in Marblehead, Ohio.

Born in Monaca, she was the youngest of five children of Michael and Ernestina Baltic. Her siblings included two brothers and two sisters: the late George and Joseph Baltic and late Helen Fleischer and Amelia Hutchison.

Julia married Calvin Swink at the First Presbyterian Church of Monaca on November 13, 1954. They were the parents of two daughters, Patricia (Dr. Frank) Lomagistro of Tallahassee, Fla and Cynthia (Lee) Walker of Marblehead, Ohio. She was the cherished grandmother of Chad Ratkovich (Averi) of Canton, Ohio, Stephanie Ratkovich Moreno (Steve) of Pooler, Ga., Collin Lomagistro (Heather) of Loxahatchee, Fla. and the late Scott Lomagistro and seven great grandchildren.

Julia graduated fourth in her class from Monaca High School in 1951. She was co-editor of the yearbook, the Acanom and much of the artwork of the yearbook and the doors entering the school illustrated her artistic talent.

Following graduation from high school, Julia attended Temple University School of Nursing and graduated in 1954.Coming back to Monaca, she was hired at Rochester General Hospital and worked in the labor and delivery departments. This was an adjustment at Rochester because of the small size compared to the extreme size of Temple University Hospital. While at Rochester Hospital working full time and raising a family, she attended Penn State University at the Beaver Campus in Monaca. She then graduated in 1972 with a B.S. Degree in Nursing. In 1976, she received a M.S. degree in Nursing Education and Administration from the University of Pittsburgh.

With the construction of the Medical Center of Beaver County, Julia moved up the ladder at the new hospital to become Head Nurse, Supervisor, Assistant Director, Director and Associate Vice-President of Nursing covering 491 beds plus the Critical Care Unit. These new responsibilities required her to visit other hospitals throughout the country and to be able to provide the planning committee of the new hospital with information to ensure that the facilities of the new hospital would be state of art.

Julia was a devout member of the First Presbyterian Church of Monaca where she had served as a deacon for a number of years. She was inducted into the Monaca Hall of Fame, was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, Naomi Chapter for over 50 years, served on the Board of Directors of the Beaver County Cancer and Heart Association and the Advisory Committee for the Nursing Forum for Nursing Executives. She had also planned and coordinated programs, taught budget planning and orientation classes for the staff and spoke at the National Seminar in Dallas, TX. for Emergency Department Nurses. In addition to all these things, Julia volunteered at the Villa St. Joseph, reading articles, short stories or poetry to the residents.

Memorial contributions may be made in her memory, if desired to the First Presbyterian Church of Monaca , 1301 Indiana Avenue, Monaca, PA, 15061.

Private services will be held at Sylvania Hills Memorial Park Mausoleum, Rochester.