A newsmaker you should know: Mt. Lebanon woman's representation of Bulgaria now official
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Patricia Penka French
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As the new honorary consul of the Republic of Bulgaria to Western Pennsylvania, Patricia Penka French engages in activities not unlike those she has done for decades as a member and officer of the Bulgarian Macedonian National Educational and Cultural Center.
That work includes expediting visas and passport renewals, helping immigrants find apartments, showing visitors around the city and more.
"But now I have the official title," she said. "My parents would be thrilled."
Mrs. French, 81, of Mt. Lebanon, said her parents, Zlate Pencheff Jordanoff and Diana Gantcheva, wed in 1928 in Bulgaria in an arranged marriage, after which they immigrated to New Castle. When their daughter was 2 months old, the family moved to West Homestead.
With her mother employed in a steel mill and her father doing odd jobs, the family saved enough money to buy a house as well as part ownership in the West Homestead Baking Co.
Mrs. French recalled that when she was not at home -- now the site of the West Homestead municipal building on West Eighth Avenue -- she was across the street at the cultural center, then known as the Bulgaro-Macedonian Beneficial Association.
She attended the center's Bulgarian school, which focused on language, culture, dancing, singing, poetry and ethnic celebration of holidays. On weekends, plays, dances and programs were held for families.
"We lived at the center. ... I thought everyone lived like that," she said of immersing herself in her heritage.
In 1952, Mrs. French "broke the mold," she said, by marrying a non-Bulgarian, William Charles French.
He turned out to be "a better Bulgarian than some Bulgarians," she said of the couple's involvement in the center.
She was a familiar figure in Bulgarian cultural and business circles through the exchange of folk ensembles between the center and Bulgaria and as an interpreter for the U.S. State Department here and abroad. She also interpreted for Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric and Alcoa as they established plants in Bulgaria.
First Published November 17, 2011 5:30 am
