When Eleanor Gaitens found out that the borough of Crafton wasn't going to secure $30,000 in matching funds to build an outdoor stage, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

It was the early 1980s and Mrs. Gaitens formed a citizen's committee, went door to door asking neighbors to donate and designed fundraisers. In the end, she not only raised the initial $30,000 required to qualify for matching funds, but more than $40,000 in additional money to build the multi-purpose stage that still stands in Crafton Park.

"She was not the type of person to wait for someone else to do something," said her daughter, Alida O'Neill, of Bethel Park. "I don't think she ever thought that she would fail at any endeavor that she pursued. That never entered her mind."

Mrs. Gaitens died Saturday of pneumonia at St. Clair Memorial Hospital. She was 70.

The construction of the stage in Crafton Park was just one of many chapters in Mrs. Gaitens' life that involved the arts. As a 4-year-old, she studied dance with Gene Kelly's sister, Louise, and performed on the KDKA music show, "Starlets on Parade."

While at St. Luke High School in Carnegie, she founded the "Dixie Dreamers" singing trio and performed in local nightclubs.

She graduated from Mount Mercy College -- now Carlow University -- and performed in both college and professional productions while a student there. After graduating in 1960, she taught third grade at St. Martin School and English at Bishop Canevin High School, where she started a musical theater program.

Mrs. Gaitens not only directed and influenced hundreds of students in her 12 years as Bishop Canevin's drama director, she also displayed her outgoing and outspoken personality.

At one point she confronted Pittsburgh's bishop, asking him why female teachers were paid less than male teachers, recounted her son, Richard Gaitens, of Crafton. She was told that the males had families to support, while female teachers customarily quit once they had children.

Following convention, Mrs. Gaitens stopped teaching after she married her high school boyfriend, Larry Gaitens, though she continued her involvement with the school musicals.

As a housewife and mother of three, she involved herself heavily in civic organizations, serving on the board of the Pittsburgh Drama League, the Crafton Women's Civic Association and the Crafton Junior Civic Club, among other groups.

"There probably isn't an organization in Crafton that she wasn't part of at some time," said her daughter Maureen Kick, of San Leandro, Calif.

From 1970 to 1974, Mrs. Gaitens' late husband served as mayor of Crafton. Despite her jam-packed civic life, Mrs. Gaitens always had dinner on the table on time and was always around to help with homework, said Ms. O'Neill.

Even into her 60s, Mrs. Gaitens continued to sing, sometimes professionally as part of her "Phoenix" singing trio. She would break into song at the slightest provocation, singing show tunes and old standards and teaching them to her seven grandchildren.

"She wasn't shy about her talent," said Ms. Kick. "She was always willing to perform."

In addition to her children, Mrs. Gaitens is survived by brothers Thomas Cherry of The Woodlands, Texas, John Cherry of Oakwood, and Donald Cherry and Richard Cherry, both of New York City; sisters Marge Starosielec of Orchard Park, N.Y., and Eileen O'Brien of Clearwater, Fla.; and seven grandchildren.

The family will receive visitors at the Schepner-McDermott Funeral Home in Crafton today from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m.

A Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. tomorrow in St. Philip Church in Crafton, where Mrs. Gaitens was a longtime member.