A group of people participate in a previous year’s annual Respect Life march. Courtesy photo

TYRONE — The Knights of Columbus of St. Gregory’s Council are encouraging people to grab their signs and gather in prayer at St. Matthew Catholic Church for the annual Respect Life march on Sunday, Jan. 18.

Starting about noon, a prayer service will be held at the church, 1105 Cameron Ave., before beginning the 1.25-mile walk toward the gravesite of Baby Agnes Doe in Oak Grove Cemetery, where another prayer service will be held.

Those who are unable to walk that distance have been encouraged to join in by driving at the end of the procession, according to Grand Knight Jack Wagner.

After the march, a luncheon will be served in the parish hall featuring homemade beef vegetable soup and sandwiches with either ham or turkey, Wagner said.

“Please join us that day,” Wagner said, noting registration is not required and there will be more than enough food provided for everyone who participates.

The Knights anticipate about 130 to 150 people will show up for the march, Wagner said.

The march started in 1987 when Baby Agnes Doe — the name given to unidentified partial remains of a child found deceased on Feb. 5, 1987 — was discovered in a wooded area between Pinecroft and Bellwood.

Those remains were exhumed June 10, 2025, and were taken to the Indiana County Coroner’s office, where a team from Florida was successful in extracting DNA samples, Blair County Coroner Ray Benton said.

According to Benton, state police in Indiana are still conducting familiarity matches with that DNA.

“That’s where we’re at with things right now,” Benton said.

Although the baby’s remains are still in Indiana, the child was originally buried by the Knights in June 1987, naming her Agnes after the Roman Catholic saint by the same name, Wagner said.

Rick McNelis, another Knights of Columbus member, said the march coincides with the March for Life event in Washington, D.C., every year. The Respect Life march gives people who can’t make it to the nation’s capital a chance to participate in a local march, he said.

“Everyone is invited,” McNelis said, adding he has participated in the march every year since it began nearly four decades ago.

“Our council decided to continue that march every year,” McNelis said. “It is our way of saying that we still care about the unborn, and we want (abortion) to end.”

Wagner said the march isn’t just about protesting abortions. It’s about respecting life at all stages, from unborn children to the terminally ill, he said.

“Show up and participate,” Wagner said. “We encourage you to bring a sign.”

Wagner noted the Knights also support several local pregnancy centers — Every Life Matters Support Services, Tyrone; Crossroads Pregnancy Center and Precious Life Pregnancy Center, both of Altoona.

The centers help expecting mothers and mothers who’ve already had their babies with diapers, clothes and parenting skills, Wagner said, noting the importance of those resources and that there’s “no judgment” put on women who use them.

“We’re doing this to basically shine a light on (the idea) that every life is precious and should be allowed to live a full life until natural death. That’s why we call it the life march,” Wagner said.

If you go

What: 39th annual Respect Life March and luncheon

When: The march begins at noon Sunday, Jan. 18. The luncheon will be held at the parish hall afterward. Homemade beef vegetable soup and sandwiches will be served at no cost.

Where: St. Matthew Catholic Church, 1105 Cameron Ave.