Anna (Redman) Mikita

Her name was Anna Marie Mikita, but the lifelong Fayette County resident was better known to all of her family and friends as “Sis.” Over time, her name changed— she was proud to become everyone’s Gram. 

Sis was a good friend to many, but she was loved and respected by all who had the pleasure of knowing her. There wasn’t a person she met that she wouldn’t feed or welcome into her home with joy. 

While Gram was strong-willed and determined to stay in this world with her family for as long as she could, surviving breast cancer, her loved ones are comforted by knowing that she was a firm believer in Heaven and that she will be greeted, free of her earthly pain, with loving arms by her husband Steve Mikita, siblings Hazel Grahek, James “Jug” Redman, and Michael “Mickey” Redman, and many more family and friends who have preceded her in death. 

Sis was born a coal miner’s daughter on September 24, 1929 to Henry and Mary Ann Redman. She grew up in “the patch” with her eight siblings. She is survived by her sisters Mella Young and Betty Kathrine “Kathy” Smith, and her brothers Donald and wife Donna Redman, Henry and wife Jean Redman, and Robert and wife Monda Redman. She was fortunate enough to have passed in her home in the very same “patch” on May 18, 2021 with five generations of family by her side. 

Sis was a beloved mother to her three children, Paulette and husband Charles Beatty, Pamela and husband Lenny Rose, and Frank (“Randy”) and wife Kristine Grahek. She is also survived by seven grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and seven great-great-grandchildren. 

Sis was admired by her family and friends as a lady with a strong spirit. As a teenager, she and the other ladies of the “patch” protested the shutoff of the city water by laying atop the shutoff point until the water company conceded. She was a unionist who marched for workers’ rights. As a young woman, she was President of the Women’s Democrat Club of Brownsville. She drove voters to the polls and knocked on many doors throughout the years. She was very active in the democratic process, right up until the very end. In the 2020 election, she was featured in the newspaper and went viral on social media for her 91 Biden signs for her 91st birthday. 

Sis was a successful business owner for over fifty years of Coal Hill Tavern. She hosted holidays and parties and held up the community with her pizza and wings, and she could settle any argument simply by saying “that’s enough now”.

She started the Coal Hill Football Club which allowed her to travel the country as a proud Steelers fan with her friends. She planned the yearly womens’ trip to Wildwood to work on her tan with a stop off in Atlantic City. She was a member of the Croatian Fraternal Union and regularly attended events at the Gun Club. 

She attended the Christian Alliance Church since she was a child and was re-baptized shortly before her death. She never left anyone out of her prayers, her extensive memory never forgetting a loved ones name. 

Sis set an example to all of us in her strength and endurance. Her life is a testament that you can achieve success and practice kindness, no matter who you are or what you are going through in life. 

She lived a grand life and she made her family proud. 

Friends will be received in the NOVAK FUNERAL HOME, 515 Front Street, Brownsville, PA on Friday, May 21, 2021 from 2:00 – 10:00 PM and Saturday, May 22, 2021 until 12:00 PM the hour of service.

Entombment will follow in Lafayette Memorial Park, Brier Hill, PA.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Anna (Redman) Mikita, please visit our floral store.