Ossining, N.Y., May 11, 2026 ── Sister Mary Vertucci, M.M., a Maryknoll Sister of 62 years who empowered countless women as a mentor and visionary leader, died on April 30, 2026. She was 80.

Sr. Mary was born Aug. 28, 1945, in New Brunswick, N.J., to Micale and Adelaide Zarski Vertucci. She was the eldest of five children, and is survived by three sisters — Christina, Cecelia (Dee) and Michele — and her brother, John.

Sr. Mary graduated from St. Peter’s High School in New Brunswick, N.J., and entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation novitiate in Topsfield, Mass., on Sept. 2, 1964. She made her first vows on June 24, 1967, at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in New York, and final vows in Morogoro, Tanzania, on July 22, 1972. Sr. Mary earned an Associate of Arts degree from Mary Rogers College in 1968, and a B.A. in Chemistry from the College of St. Elizabeth. In 1982, she completed a certificate in Clinical Pastoral Education from Central Islip Psychiatric Hospital in Islip, N.Y.

In 1970, Sr. Mary was assigned to East Africa’s Tanzania, where she taught science courses to young women at the Korogwe Girls Secondary School, the Sekei Secondary School (formerly the Arusha Diocesan Youth Center) and the Murigha Girls School in Singida.

After teaching for many years, Sr. Mary spearheaded the development and opening of the Emusoi Center in Arusha, Tanzania, in 1999. There, girls and women of pastoralist and hunter-gatherer communities found a safe and supportive home of hope, where they were able to access information and discover their own worth through education. By 2025, more than 2,000 women passed through secondary school, vocational school and college or a university.

Grace Scorey, who completed the Emusoi Center’s program with the class of 2000, said that Sr. Mary “built leaders, champions and change-makers,” and that, “her legacy lives on in every girl she empowered and every woman who now stands strong in her community.”

Sr. Mary also accompanied many women as they discerned a call to the Maryknoll Sisters through her work with the Tanzania Vocation team, and as Director of the Congregational Admissions Team from 1982 until 1986. She also served as regional treasurer for sisters in Tanzania for the Dominican Sisters of Africa.

A wake for Sr. Mary was held on May 7, 2026, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y. A Mass of Christian Burial was said on May 8, 2026, also in the Annunciation Chapel.

Ossining, N.Y., April 22, 2026 ── Sister Rita Kane, M.M., a Maryknoll Sister of 82 years known for her wisdom and kindness, died on March 25, 2026. She was 105.

Sr. Rita was born on Sept. 11, 1920, to James and Marie Seidel Kane in Sterling, Illinois. She was one of eight children, and is predeceased by four brothers and two sisters. Her surviving sister, Joan, lives in Sterling, Illinois.

Sr. Rita graduated from Sterling’s Catholic Community High School in 1938 and entered Maryknoll on Sept. 6, 1944. She took her First Vows on March 7, 1947, and Final Vows on the same date three years later. That same year, Sr. Rita received a Bachelor of Education from Maryknoll Teachers College.

In her first assignment, Sr. Rita taught in New York City’s Chinatown. After one year, she was assigned to the Hawaii Region, where she would serve for the next 57 years. She taught elementary students in Kalihi and Maui, before an assignment in 1953 at the Maui Children’s Home, where she built deep connections with children in need until its closing in 1965. Sr. Rita’s next mission brought her to the service of troubled youth as a juvenile probation officer with Hawaii’s Family Court. In 1980, Sr. Rita joined the staff at a shelter for abused women and children, where she empowered them and connected them to community resources. After working with Maryknoll’s Mission Institute Program, Sr. Rita returned to Hawaii’s Waianae Coast in Nanakuli in 1998, offering counseling sessions to the native Hawaiian community through Child and Family Services.

In addition to her work in communities, Sr. Rita served on the Regional Governing Board twice, was elected as a delegate to the 1984 General Chapter and helped create the Diocesan Sisters Council. She also served on an Interfaith Urban Task Force, the Campaign for Human Development and the Hawaii Council of Churches.

Sr. Rita returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in 2007, where she continued volunteer work and sharing her kindness and generosity with the Sister community until her passing.

A wake for Sr. Rita was held on April 9, 2026, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y. A Memorial Mass was said on April 10, 2026, also in the Annunciation Chapel.

Ossining, N.Y., March 24, 2026 ── Sister Cecilia Vandal, M.M., a Maryknoll Sister of 80 years known for her joyful and gentle presence, died on March 6, 2026. She was 98, and passed in the company of her sister, Alice, and her Maryknoll family.

Sr. Cecilia was born on May 22, 1928, to Estelle Nordin and Leonard Vandal, in Bottineau, N.D. She grew up in a large and loving family, with seven sisters ­­— Rose Marie, Theresa, Marguerite, Helen, Alice, Grace and Eugenia — and five brothers — Edward, Lawrence, Norman, Aime and Michael. Sr. Cecilia is survived by two of her sisters, Alice and Grace.

Sr. Cecilia graduated from Notre Dame Academy High School in Willow City, N.D., in 1946 and entered Maryknoll that same year on Oct. 5. Sr. Cecilia professed her First Vows in 1949, and her Final Vows in 1952. She went on to receive her Bachelor of Education degree from Rogers College of Maryknoll, N.Y., in 1953.

Her first mission brought Sr. Cecilia to New York’s Chinatown, where she served as a teacher from 1952 until 1954. Three years later, she would embark on her first overseas mission to Chile, where she worked as a teacher, principal and pastoral counselor at Maryknoll schools in Santiago, Pemuco and Talcahuano Huachipato. She also served as the regional coordinator of the Maryknoll Sisters Chile region for four years.

In 1979, Sr. Cecilia returned to New York to join the Maryknoll Sisters Mission Institute. Then, from 1982 until 1988, she served as a pastoral associate for parishes in Bottineau County, N.D., to assist in liturgies and religious education. During this time, Sr. Cecilia also provided aid to her family and aging parents at home.

Sr. Cecilia was assigned to El Salvador in 1989 to serve within the Soyapango parish communities, before moving to the small town of Santa Cruz, Analquito, to establish a church there. Sr. Cecilia served in the Maryknoll Sisters Center Rogers Community as Co-Coordinator from 2004 until 2007, before returning to El Salvador’s Soyapango. She was welcomed back “home” once again by the community, and served with the Council for the Deanery and the Evangelization Committee.

After retiring to the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Sr. Cecilia found great joy in cooking, gardening, playing Scrabble and spending time with her fellow sisters until her passing.

A wake for Sr. Cecilia was held on March 19, 2026, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y. A Memorial Mass was said on March 20, 2026, also in the Annunciation Chapel.

Ossining, N.Y., March 13, 2026 ── Sister Patricia Gallogly, M.M., a Maryknoll sister of 75 years known for her adaptability and commitment to justice, died on March 1, 2026, surrounded by friends and staff at Maryknoll. She was 93 

Sr. Patricia was born on February 15, 1933, in the Bronx, New York, to Joseph and Rose O’Rourke Gallogly. Her parents and sister, Peg, predeceased her; she is survived by her sister, Kathleen.

Sr. Patricia was baptized at St. Jerome’s Parish, and received her high school diploma from the St. Simon Stock School. She would go on to complete her bachelor’s degree in education at the Maryknoll Teachers College in 1960, and attend the Pius X School of Liturgical Music at Manhattanville College.

In 1951, Sr. Patricia entered the Venard Maryknoll Society Community in Clarks Summit, Pa., after being inspired by stories in Maryknoll’s Field Afar Magazine. As she studied theology and missiology, Sr. Patricia’s spark for mission work grew into a flame — she received her first vows on March 7, 1954, and made her final vows six years later to the day, in 1960.

Sr. Patricia’s first mission took her to Africa in 1960, where she taught at the Makoko Girls Primary School for seven years. She also taught at the Musoma Junior High School Seminary for young boys in Tanzania, and at a girls’ high school in Machakos, Kenya. In 1980, she was called back to the Maryknoll Sister Center in Ossining, N.Y., to serve as the orientation director. Sr. Patricia returned to Tanzania once again to serve in the village of Kung’ombe, Bunda, where she taught local women how to knit and sew, while discussing women’s rights with them. She also worked as a health promoter, organizing support groups and trainings amid the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Msang village and Mwanza. During this process, Sr. Patricia helped develop the Uzima Wellness Center in 2004, where women received medical assistance.

In 2007, Sr. Patricia was called to the Eastern U.S. Region, where she continued her ministry of justice and peace in Yonkers, N.Y. She later became the representative for the Faith and Justice Network in Washington, D.C. From 2017 until 2020, Sr. Patricia served as representative to the Maryknoll Affiliates and Full Circle.

Sr. Patricia returned to the Center in 2019, where she spent time writing about her experiences in mission and keeping in touch with her many friends from Tanzania, until she passed.

A wake for Sr. Patricia was held on March 10, 2026, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y. A memorial Mass was said on March 11, 2026, also in the Annunciation Chapel.

Ossining, N.Y., Feb. 18, 2026 ── Sister Marie Rosso, M.M., a Maryknoll sister of 75 years with a passion for social work, died on February 8, 2026. She was 95. 

Sr. Marie was born on Nov. 16, 1930, to Daniel and Anna Brennan Rosso in Philadelphia, Pa. She had five siblings, four of whom pre-deceased her, including Maryknoll Sister Dolores Rosso, M.M. Her younger brother, Thomas Rosso, currently resides in Maryland. 

Sr. Marie graduated from the Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1948. She entered the Maryknoll Sisters on Sept. 4, 1948, at the Venard in Clarks Summit, Pa. Sr. Marie pronounced her first vows on March 7, 1951, and her final vows on the same date in 1954. She received her Bachelor of Education degree from Maryknoll Teachers College in 1954, as well. 

In 1954, Sr. Marie set out on her first mission, teaching for a year at the Transfiguration School in Chinatown, N.Y. She then taught eighth grade for five more years at St. Anthony’s of the Bronx, N.Y., before being called to teach in Honolulu, Hawaii. Sr. Marie spent the next three years in Likiep of the Marshall Islands, serving as a teacher, principal and house superior. She would spend the next decade teaching in the Kalihi neighborhood, before becoming the regional superior in 1976. 

In 1979, Sr. Marie joined the Hale Kane integrated prayer community of Kihei, Maui, to share ministry and prayer, detaching from material things and deepening her trust in God. In 1982, Sr. Marie began her next role, working within the Treasury Department in Honolulu, before serving as the wage and benefit consultant for the Catholic School Department in 1986. 

Following her passion for social work, Sr. Marie’s next roles allowed her to provide support for women in many ways. She joined Walking with Women to assist women fleeing violence, as well as the Home for the Rebirth of Women and Sisters Offering Support, offering help to women leaving prostitution. In 2000, Sr. Marie worked as the house manager at a transition house for abused women, operated by the United Church of Christ. Additionally, she often gave homilies for the Dignity Honolulu Faith Community, in support of the gay and lesbian struggle for recognition. She received the St. John Award for this work in 2000. 

By 2006, Sr. Marie was assigned to Monrovia, where she managed human resources for lay employees, while serving with the Interfaith Council of Monrovia, acting as secretary for the California Corporation and working with the finance committee. She returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y., in 2018, where she remained until her passing. 

A wake for Sr. Marie was held on Feb. 11, 2026, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y. A Mass of Resurrection was said on Feb. 12, 2026, also in the Annunciation Chapel. 

Ossining, N.Y., Jan. 15, 2026 ── Sister Rose Patrick St. Aubin, M.M., a Maryknoll Sister known for her strength and immense love for people, died on Jan. 3, 2026. She was 97 and a Maryknoll Sister of 80 years. 

Dolores May St. Aubin was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, to Amos and Mathilda Binon St. Aubin on May 19, 1928. She is pre-deceased by her sister, Carol Jameson, and brother, Patrick St. Aubin. Sr. Rose Patrick is survived by numerous nieces, nephews and in-laws.

Sr. Rose Patrick and her family moved to Akrin, Ohio, where she would graduate from St. Mary’s High School. On Oct. 4, 1946, Sr. Rose Patrick entered the congregation at the Maryknoll Sister Center in Ossining, N.Y., determined to pursue foreign missions as her sole ambition. She made her first vows on April 6, 1949, and her final vows on April 6, 1952, in Likiep, Marshall Islands.

Sr. Rose Patrick studied at the Maryknoll Teachers College, before completing her bachelor’s degree at Chaminade College in Hawai’i, in 1978.

In 1950, Sr. Rose Patrick was called to the Marshall Islands of Micronesia for a brand-new Maryknoll mission. She started teaching first grade and began what would become her six-decades-long commitment to the people, Church and education of the Marshall Islands.

Sr. Rose Patrick dedicated herself to education development, fulfilling an immense need for teacher training. She also took part in initiating the Outer Island Ministries in the remote atolls of Likiep, Jaluit, Arno and others. Sr. Rose Patrick is remembered fondly by the Marshallese for embracing challenges on the islands with strength and creativity, and she remains an inspiration to government and education leaders.

In 2010, Sr. Rose Patrick returned to the Center, where she lived until her passing, surrounded by her friends and Maryknoll staff.

A wake for Sr. Rose Patrick was held on Jan. 12, 2026, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y. A Mass of Christian Burial was said on Jan. 13, 2026, also in the Annunciation Chapel.

Ossining, N.Y., Dec. 12, 2025 ── Sister Ramona Oppenheim, M.M., known as a loyal and fun-loving member of the Maryknoll Sisters for 71 years, died on December 3, 2025. She was 96

Sr. Ramona was born in Lima, Ohio, to Theodore Henry Oppenheim and Anna Elizabeth Mathias on April 28, 1929. She was raised in Coldwater, Ohio, with three sisters and four brothers, all of whom pre-deceased her. Sr. Ramona is survived by numerous nieces, nephews and in-laws.

Sr. Ramona was baptized at the Holy Trinity Parish, in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. She graduated from Coldwater Public School in 1946 and began her college career at St. Mary’s College in Indiana, where she developed a passion for history and social sciences. She would complete her B.A. in history in 1950. She also received a B.S. in education from Mary Rogers College and went on to earn an M.A. in history from the Ateneo de Manila University while serving in the Philippines. 

Inspired by the Maryknoll Field Afar magazine, Sr. Ramona entered Maryknoll at Valley Park Novitiate in 1951. She received the name Sister Ramona Therese and took her first vows in 1954. 

In 1955, Sr. Ramona began her first mission in the Philippines, where she worked in education in Quezon City and Lucena City for a decade. In 1965, she began teaching at Maryknoll High School on the Maryknoll College Campus, while serving as a local superior. Sr. Ramona returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y., in 1972, where she worked in the admissions office until 1975. 

From 1976 until 2004, Sr. Ramona served in the Mexico-Guatemala region, continuing her work in education with the addition of time back at the Center from 1985 to 1988. During this time, she was a member of the Mission Institute Coordinating Team and assisted the Center’s Physical Plant on the Blueprint Project. Sr. Ramona’s next mission took her to San Ysidro, Calif., in 2005. There, she worked in collaboration with the Maryknoll Society, Maryknoll Lay Missioners and the Tacoma Dominican Sisters to serve in immigration detention centers and clinics.

In 2010, Sr. Ramona became ill and returned to the Center in New York, where she remained until her passing.

A wake for Sr. Ramona was held on Dec. 9, 2025, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y. A Mass of Resurrection was said on Dec. 10, 2025, also in the Annunciation Chapel.

Ossining, N.Y., Dec. 8, 2025 ── Sister Rosemary Huber, M.M., a Maryknoll sister of 71 years and avid learner, died on November 22, 2025. She was 94.

Sr. Rosemary was born in Borden, Indiana, to Joseph and Mary Koetter Huber on Aug. 3, 1921. She had four sisters and six brothers; four of her siblings have pre-deceased her. Sr. Rosemary graduated from the Academy of the Immaculate Conception at the Benedictine Monastery in Ferdinand, Indiana, in 1949. She entered the Maryknoll Sisters at Valley Park, Missouri, on Feb. 1, 1954. After taking her first vows on Sept. 8, 1956, Sr. Rosemary worked for a year on mission promotion at Maryknoll. She took her final vows at Maryknoll in Ossining, N.Y., on Sept. 8, 1962.

In 1963, Sr. Rosemary received her Bachelor of Science in Education from Mary Rogers College and went on to receive a master’s degree in hospital administration from St. Louis University the following year, with a residency in Michigan from 1964-1965.

Sr. Rosemary’s first assignment was in Pusan, Korea, in 1965. There, she worked in the Maryknoll Hospital and in the Cooperative Education Institute in Seoul, developing credit unions as paths out of poverty. She then served as the director of support services at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in New York, before being called to the Ursuline Community of Bandung, Indonesia for mission in 1972. For nearly two decades, Sr. Rosemary traveled throughout the Indonesian archipelago, serving in healthcare management for both local and provincial hospitals.

Sr. Rosemary briefly did medical-pastoral work on a mission in Aileu, East Timor, in 1991, before returning to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in 1992 to serve as Center healthcare administrator for five years. Her passion for inter-religion dialogue then brought her to Nepal, where she was elected to the Monastic Inter-Religious Dialogue Group in Kathmandu, worked in administration at Patan Hospital and taught English at a local high school. She also briefly worked in Congregational Service as a staff writer in the development department, before being assigned to Monrovia as a coordinator until 2010. She returned to the Center in 2011, where she remained until she passed.

A passionate learner, Sr. Rosemary received many certificates in different areas, including Inter-Religious Dialogue, Catholic Hospital Administration, bio-medical ethics and moral theology. She also received certificates of appreciation from the Hasan Sadikin Provincial Hospital and the Association of Religious Sisters in Bandung.

A wake for Sr. Rosemary was held on Dec. 3, 2025, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y. A Mass of Resurrection was said on Dec. 4, 2025, also in the Annunciation Chapel.