Nine members of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania are celebrating milestone anniversaries as women religious.
A handful of the women have ties to McKean and Elk counties. Those celebrating 60-year anniversaries this year include, Mary Joan Beauseigneur, SSJ; Josephine DePetro, SSJ; Mary Ellen Dwyer, SSJ; André Feulner, SSJ; Bernadine Gehringer, SSJ; Mary Kevin Palazzetti, SSJ; Maria Assumpta Ruza, SSJ; Angela Marie Servidea, SSJ; and Barbara Ann Vavreck, SSJ.
Beauseigneur presently serves as an office assistant at the Congregation of Divine Spirit House of Loreto in Canton, Ohio. She previously ministered in education for more than 50 years at several Erie Catholic Diocese schools and served as a principal at both St. Leo in Ridgway and St. Titus School in Titusville. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on Aug. 15, 1955, from St. Bernard Parish in Bradford, and professed her final vows on Aug. 15, 1960.
Meanwhile, DePetro currently ministers as the in-home coordinator at the Sisters of St. Joseph Community Living Center. She taught for more than 20 years in several Erie Diocesan schools and she also served as a McKean County juvenile probation officer (1980-1991). She later became the director of religious education at both Immaculate Conception Parish in Clarion and St. Marys Inter-Parish in St. Marys. She was the recipient of an award for her work in religious education as well as an award from the Women’s Club of Bradford. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on Aug. 31, 1955 from Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish in Lewis Run, and professed her final vows on Aug. 15, 1961.
Also, Dwyer presently ministers by assisting sisters to doctor appointments and surgical procedures. Prior to that, she spent several years volunteering at St. Vincent Hospital and the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Network soup kitchen. She was the head nurse in pediatrics and the clinic coordinator for both the Maternal/Child Clinic and the Chemotherapy Clinic at Spencer Hospital. She was also an instructor of maternal and pediatric nursing at Spencer School of Nursing. In 1989, along with SSJ Associate John Brown, Sister Mary Ellen developed and managed the first Medicare certified Hospice in northwestern Pennsylvania — Hospice of Crawford Co., Inc. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in August of 1955 from Bradford, and professed her final vows on Aug. 15, 1961.
Lastly, Servidea presently resides in Johnsonburg. She ministered as a teacher for nearly 30 years in several Erie Diocesan schools and she was the director of Horizon House in Union City (1985-1987), director of religious education at Holy Redeemer in Warren (1987-1988), the pastoral minister at Holy Rosary in Johnsonburg (1988-1990), and a private caregiver in Johnsonburg (1990-1994). She was a nurse aide at St. Joseph Monastery in St. Marys and also with Community Nurses (1994-2007). She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on Aug. 31, 1955 from her home parish, Holy Rosary in Johnsonburg, and professed her final vows on Aug. 15, 1961.
