Maryknoll, NY: Sister Elizabeth Ann Erbland died on October 11, 2024 at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY. She was 89 years old and a Maryknoll Sister for 61 years.

On April 1, 1935, Elizabeth Ann Erbland was born in Fairport, NY.  She had eight brothers and two sisters; she is survived by many nieces and nephews.

From 1949-1953, Sister Elizabeth attended Fairport High School in Fairport, NY.   She earned her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education at Genesee State Teachers College in Genesee, NY.  She then attended Mary Rogers College from 1965-1966.  She entered the Maryknoll Sisters at Maryknoll, NY on September 2, 1963 from Our Lady of the Assumption, Fairport, NY.  She pronounced her First Profession of Vows on June 24, 1966 in Maryknoll, NY and her Final Vows on September 24, 1978 in Watch Hill, Rhode Island.

In 1971, she received her first mission assignment as a teacher to Davao, the town of Panabo in the Southern Philippines.  Then she became Directress and Coordinator of Department Heads. Due to family illness, she returned to Fairport, NY where she taught in 1972 and 1973.  From 1973 to 1977, she worked at Maryknoll in the Development Office on Foundations and as part of the World Awareness Team.  She then moved to Rochester, NY from 1977 until 1984 as Assistant Superintendent for Urban Education and Special Education. Coming back to Maryknoll, NY in 1985, she was Director of the Development Department until 1989.

From 1990 to 1999, Sr. Elizabeth lived in McAllan, TX doing pastoral work with the Spanish community and was Director of Religious Education at St. Joseph the Worker Parish followed by teaching special Education in nearby Mission, TX.   For the next eight years, she took care of her brother Walter in Temporary Family Residence in Warren, PA.  In 2009, Sister was assigned to the Eastern US Region where she worked for Catholic Social Services in Asheville, NC, then returning to Maryknoll for part-time services at the Ossining Food Pantry until 2012.

Sister was assigned to the Rogers Community at Maryknoll, NY in 2012 and then to the Eden Community in 2024.  She was known for her humor and sense of fun, kindness and commitment to peace and justice.

Funeral Services:

A Vespers Service was held for Sister Elizabeth on Thursday, October 18, 2024 at 4:15 p.m. in the Chapel of the Annunciation at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Maryknoll, NY.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held on Friday, October 19, 2024 at 10:00 A.M. at the Maryknoll Sisters Center.