Mary Joan Beauseigneur, SSJ, 83, of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania, died on October 4, 2020.  She was born Jean Beauseigneur on April 24, 1937, in Ridgway, Pennsylvania, to the late Quindon and Dolores Parks Beauseigneur. She graduated from St. Bernard High School in Bradford, Pennsylvania, in 1955 and entered the Sisters of St. Joseph from St. Bernard Parish in Bradford later that same year and professed her final vows on August 15, 1960. Sister Mary Joan attended Villa Maria College in Erie where she earned a BS in elementary education in 1964. She later received a MA in education from Edinboro University, Edinboro, PA, in 1974.

Sister Mary Joan ministered in education for more than 50 years, teaching at numerous Erie Diocesan schools, including St. Patrick, St. Andrew, Blessed Sacrament, St. Ann, St. Peter Cathedral Center, and Our Lady’s Christian schools in Erie. In addition, she taught at St. Agatha School, Meadville, Pennsylvania; St. Leo School, Ridgeway, Pennsylvania; and St. Titus School, Titusville, Pennsylvania. She also served as a principal at both St. Leo and St. Titus Schools. She later ministered as an office assistant for the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Network and Villa Maria Elementary School, both in Erie and at the Congregation of Divine Spirit House of Loreto in Canton, Ohio, where her sister, Michele Beauseigneur, is a member of the congregation. Sister Mary Joan retired from active ministry in 2017.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by three sisters, Joan Beauseigneur (her twin), Emily Highfield, and Norma Forney.  She is survived by one sister, Sister Michele Beauseigneur, C.D.S., and one brother, Lawrence Beauseigneur. She is also survived by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania.