Thelma Kane Waldorf, a little Irish woman with bright red hair, raised six children, fought to protect the rights of North Side residents who lost their homes due to construction of Interstate 279 and helped save St. Boniface Church, all while wearing 4-inch heels.

"[She] didn't like to be little I guess," said Jerome Waldorf, 66, of the North Side, as he described his mother's preferred footwear.

Mrs. Waldorf, a lifelong resident of the North Side, died at home on Tuesday. She was 98.

A kind, outspoken woman who was proud of her Irish heritage, Mrs. Waldorf devoted much of her life to helping residents who were uprooted by the construction of I-279. Planning for I-279 began in the 1950s, and the highway was completed in 1989.

About 6,000 people were displaced as PennDOT acquired 1,300 homes, schools, churches and businesses in its effort to provide a fast and convenient connection between Pittsburgh and the North Hills.

Mrs. Waldorf worked as a relocation specialist for the Pittsburgh Housing Authority and served as a liaison between PennDOT and the East Street Valley residents.

Mrs. Waldorf also served as the treasurer of the Highway Emergency and Relocation Team, called HEART, formally organized in 1968 to represent families facing loss of their homes to the highway. The organization's motto was "Home for a Home."

Mrs. Waldorf "has personally relocated more than one-half of the families" in the area, the late Martin Krauss, president of HEART, told The Pittsburgh Press in November 1973.

"She spoke up for those who couldn't speak up," said Mrs. Waldorf's daughter Shirley Liberto, 77, of Morningside. "They would put some people in a house that was inferior just to get them relocated, and she couldn't stand for that."

Starting in 1969, Mrs. Waldorf manned the "Heartline" phone service, provided by HEART to answer calls from North Side residents who had questions about relocation. In 1979, she volunteered her home phone number as the "Pothole" hot line for people fed up with the number of potholes on the roads.

Mrs. Waldorf's granddaughter, Donna Liberto Michalek, 50, of Morningside, was just a young girl at the time. "All I remember is so many people calling her for help, and she helped them," Mrs. Michalek said. "Her phone used to ring off the hook."

A woman not afraid to speak her mind, Mrs. Waldorf also helped save St. Boniface Church, which still stands today along the interstate. PennDOT bought the church in 1971 and the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh announced its closing, but Mrs. Waldorf and a group of parishioners, led by their pastor, went to Washington, D.C., and got the church placed on a federal registry of historic places.

"She was determined that that church stay there," said Mrs. Liberto. "They had to reconfigure the highway."

In her later years, Mrs. Waldorf maintained a meticulous garden, read novels and watched soap operas in the afternoon. She loved being with her family and friends, who traveled to Pittsburgh from all over the country to visit her.

Each time she saw them she would say, "You make me feel like I can live forever," Mrs. Liberto recalled.

In addition to Mr. Waldorf, Mrs. Liberto, and Mrs. Michalek, Mrs. Waldorf is survived by two daughters, Norma Jean Casale of the North Side and Rita Wardner of Mill Valley, Calif.; another son, Frank of the North Side; 17 grandchildren; and 23 great-grandchildren.

Viewing will take place today from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. at Schellhaas Funeral Home, 388 Center Ave., West View. A Mass will be celebrated Saturday at 11 a.m. in St. Boniface Church of Holy Wisdom Parish, 2208 East St., North Side.

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