A stalwart member of Gesu Parish and Saint Malachy Parish died on April 26, 2008, Aleda Harmon at age 103.

She always did whatever she could to encourage the many pastors that served the parishes during the time of her membership. In my case when I was pastor in 1990, I asked parishioners to accompany me on a walking pilgrimage to a distant church in North Philadelphia, 4 or 5 miles away. And Mrs Harmon, to my surprise, at age 86 walked the entire distance with us and kept up the pace.

In the year 2000 we at Gesu School (the parish closed in 1993) also made a pilgrimage to a certain other church. This time, the distance being great, we went by bus and Mrs. Harmon came with us. I celebrated Mass there at the church and welcomed her especially, explaining how she had "walked with us through North Philadelphia ten years ago when she was young." She corrected me from the pew: "I'm still young!" she said.

The many tributes at her funeral Mass underlined her statement. She was and is forever young.