Volunteer Spotlight: Sheila Stagnitta

By Greta Engel

Phipps is well-known for our beautiful gardens, seasonal flower shows, pioneering sustainability initiatives, informative educational programs and community outreach. None of our work, however, would be possible without the knowledge and dedication of our volunteers. In this series of profiles, we meet some of the people who give their time to make Phipps possible.

Sheila Stagnitta was exposed to gardening while growing up around 30 miles south of Pittsburgh in New Eagle. Both her dad and granddad were vegetable gardeners who provided Sheila with her own plot of land for gardening! While reminiscing, she says, “There’s an adorable photo of me, probably about 5 years old, sitting on the floor surrounded by my potato harvest.”  When she is not gardening, Sheila enjoys traveling, hiking, rowing and reading British murder mystery novels.

Sheila has been a long-time member of Phipps and can recall grade school field trips to the Conservatory as well as many visits while attending college at Carnegie Mellon. She always wanted to become a Master Gardener, so after she retired as a civil engineer, she started volunteering as part of the Master Gardener certification process!

Now a volunteer for about 4 years, Sheila became a Master Gardener in 2022 and a docent in 2023. Sheila does not have a typical day of volunteering as she likes a variety of assignments. Sometimes she brings gloves and tools, ready to play in the dirt, while sometimes she prepares to spend her day chatting with visitors.

When asked her favorite part about volunteering at Phipps, Sheila’s many answers reflect the variety of volunteer work she does! As a docent, greeter or Dr. Phipps, Sheila likes to connect with people. She says, “We talk about their gardens and commiserate about the deer. So many are from out of the Pittsburgh area so that gives us more to talk about, comparing gardening in different regions.” Sheila’s own garden is held in big pots on her deck in Fox Chapel so that deer cannot get to it!

While helping with events, Sheila loves how well the volunteers work as a team and how the staff appreciates their help. She also looks forward to working in the greenhouses and Botany Hall kitchen, which often provides tasty samples. Volunteering has also taught Sheila new skills like how to frame botanical art, a skill she has used to fix frames in her own home. She is happy to hear about your garden the next time you visit!