Our region’s resting grounds include grave markers that tell remarkable stories about people whose lives impacted our area. Some were famous. Others were simply ordinary people who led extraordinary lives. This is the fifth in a series.

Elsie Gallagher

A stunning Schuylkill County lass became beauty contest royalty, competing in what was only the fifth Miss America Pageant.

Elsie M. Gallagher of Middleport was one of 66 young ladies vying for the national title in 1925 in Atlantic City after being crowned Miss Pottsville at Schuylkill Park.

In the pageant’s Rolling Chair Parade, she rode in a coal-filled bucket float and won second prize, a large loving cup.

Gallagher, 20, was a graduate of Mahanoy City High School and McCann School of Business.

The glamorous but shy girl later said she almost didn’t go to New Jersey to take part in the event.

The winner was Kay Lanphier of California, the first contestant to represent an entire state.

Gallagher went on to serve as a clerk for Pennsylvania Power and Light Company for 38 years.

A cultured woman, she enjoyed reading the Harvard Classics. She never married.

Later in life, Gallagher developed cognitive issues, passing away in 1983 at 78.

She is buried in the first row of graves at Mausoleum Garden, Sky-View Memorial Park, Hometown.

Louis Bova

On Aug. 13, 1963, coal miner Louis Bova, 54, and two others went to work 330 feet underground.

It was supposed to be a typical workday at Fellin Coal Company. But it wasn’t.

A cave-in trapped all three at the bottom of the mine.

For two weeks, the men struggled to survive.

Above ground, rescuers tried to determine if they were dead or alive.

The Sheppton Mine Disaster is believed to be the first on-scene, live television drama watched around the world, including by President John F. Kennedy.

In total darkness, Henry Throne, 28, and David Fellin, 58, huddled together and shivered in a tiny, damp, cold chamber.

Bova was trapped alone nearby.

A dramatic, daring two-week rescue brought Throne and Fellin to the surface. But not Bova.

Throne lived 35 more years. He died in 1998, age 63. Fellin lived another 27 years. He passed away in 1990, age 84.

Despite efforts, Bova was never saved or recovered.

He remains entombed at the site.

He rests 330 feet beneath a memorial stone located in woods on private land owned by Sheppton Hunting Club.

There is no public access.

Thelma Thomas

Thelma Thomas was just 16 with an infant son, As’ad. She and family members were heading to Wilkes-Barre from their Lebanon homeland.

It just so happened their ship was the Titanic.

On the night of April 14, 1912, it struck an iceberg. Turmoil erupted. As it sank, she was placed in a lifeboat but became separated from her baby. Her brother-in-law Charles handed the boy to a woman on a different boat.

Charles told Thelma not to worry, it’d be OK. Thelma looked at him and said: “Where’s your life jacket?” He replied, “Later.”

In reality, Charles knew there were no more life jackets. He was doomed to drown in the black, icy ocean.

Thelma and her baby eventually were reunited aboard the Carpathia.

On land, she was hospitalized, treated for shock and exposure. But she made it to Wilkes-Barre and went on to live a full life.

However, she never again went near a body of water, not even a lake.

Thelma died in 1974, age 78. Sadly, son As’ad lived only to age 20, dying of pneumonia.

Their graves, along with that of Charles, can be found at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Hanover Township.

They rest high on a hillside, far away from any body of water.