Union Mission staff, Latrobe community raise funds to help injured employee

Union Mission staffers are no strangers to fundraisers, routinely raising money to help pay for programs at their Latrobe area shelter.

But circumstances were far different Sunday as staff and volunteers gathered to help one of their own who continues to fight for her life in a Pittsburgh hospital.

Mary Bathurst, 42, of Baggaley, remains in critical condition two weeks after she was slammed by a pickup truck as she took out the trash at the shelter and propelled about 40 feet into a wooden fence by the force of the collision.

“We are hoping and praying for her and want to make sure her boys are taken care of. I know that’s what she would want, her babies taken care of,” said friend and co-worker Tracy Funk.

Bathurst is a single mother of two boys, ages 20 and 18, with the youngest child still in school at Greater Latrobe Area High School. She started work last summer at the Union Mission where she served as facility attendant. Bathurst had just returned to work about two days before the crash after quarantining for coronavirus, Funk said.

Union Mission Director Dan Carney said Bathurst had become an integral member of the shelter staff whose job it was to ensure residents were comfortable and had what they needed during their stay at the facility.

“She did extra stuff to make it feel like home like when she decorated for Christmas,” Carney said.

Bathurst, who moved to Westmoreland County from New York, settled in Jeannette before purchasing a home last year near Latrobe. Money raised on Sunday will help her children and assist with medical needs. Carney said it’s still unclear the extent of the help needed as Bathurst continues her fight against what he described as very serious injuries.

Experience with operating fundraisers helped Carney and staff quickly put together Sunday’s spaghetti dinner benefit at the American Legion Post 515 in Latrobe, where as many as 500 diners ate in, took out meals, bid on baskets or just donated to help Bathurst and her family.

“This is for Mary,” said Debbi Bullock of Greensburg. Bullock didn’t know Bathurst but read about the crash in the newspaper and wanted to help. “I was devastated and I needed to do something good.”

Diane Lloyd of Latrobe didn’t stay for a meal but came to make a contribution.

“It’s just tragic. I just feel so bad for this woman who was just trying to make a living,” Lloyd said.

Police said the truck that hit Bathurst was driven by Bobby Paul Bryer, 30, who was charged Jan. 28 with aggravated assault by vehicle and other related offenses for causing the crash.

Investigators said Bryer initially stopped at the crash scene but then drove off without offering any assistance. Bryer is free on $50,000 bail and is awaiting a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 9 before Derry Magisterial District Judge Kelly Hammers.

For Funk, Sunday’s fundraiser was more than just another event she helped to coordinate for the shelter. This one was personal.

“She would be utterly blown away by this. I pray that one day she knows how many people love her,” Funk said.