Estella Jane Pastelak

Estella Jane (Groover) Pastelak, 95, wife of the late Edward Pastelak, passed away peacefully on December 9, 2023 at Birdsboro Lodge Senior Living.

Jane—she rarely used Estella—was a daughter of the late Howard and Suzanne (Sharo) Groover.

Jane was happiest in her garden. She was especially partial to peonies, climbing roses, and lilacs, but she loved most flowers. Dogwood trees and forsythia were favorites in the spring--she always posed her children in their Easter finery before the blooming forsythia. She also kept a vegetable garden as well, full of peppers and beans, herbs and a plethora of vegetables and from which she canned the late summer tomato harvest every September.

Jane was also an excellent cook. She embraced natural foods and decried the use of processed foods in her cooking. Jane advocated for nutrition as part of a healthy lifestyle and a path to healing physical ailments. She wrote a book on cooking yeast-free and sugar free foods in ways that made them taste good. And she loved her backyard cherry tree and the pies she made from the cherries, many of which she gave away to family and friends.

She had a passion for service and gave much time to her parish, St. Thomas More. She was one of the founding members of the parish; she taught Sunday school, provided flower arrangements and worked as a census taker for the parish census. She liked working with figures; and was still reconciling her checkbook in her last months.

She was especially proud of the book keeping work she did for Ellis Mills department store in the late 1960s.

Jane moved from her home of fifty-three years on Laurelwood Road to the Birdsboro Lodge three years ago. There she enjoyed playing cards, coloring, solving Sudoku and Word Find, and reading. She was a joy in her older years!

Jane is survived by her son, Jay (Jeanette), and daughters Kathryn Hashagen and Jane Ellen Jarrell. She is also survived by her three grandchildren: Natalie Pastelak, Gavin Snyder (Molly) and Carly Grace Vowles (Mark). She had one great grandchild, Johanna Catherine Snyder.

She is predeceased by her three sisters, Dorothy (Kritz), Ruth (Pinder) and Barbara (Albitz), and her son-in-law Mark Jarrell.

A mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, December 15, 2023 at St. Thomas More R.C. Church in South Coventry Township. Visitation will be held from 10:00 a.m. till 11 a.m. followed by mass at 11:00.

Interment will be in St. John's Byzantine Catholic Church Cemetery at North Hanover and Mervine Streets, Pottstown. A reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jane's memory to the Birdsboro Lodge Senior Living, 6740 Daniel Boone Road, Birdsboro, PA 19508.

Warker~Troutman Funeral Home Inc is honored to serve the Pastelak family.