Josephine DePetro, SSJ 70 Years

Formerly Sister Mary Anthony
Home Parish:     Our Mother of Perpetual Help, Bradford, PA
Entered Sisters of St. Joseph:     1955
Final Profession: 1961 

Sister Josephine DePetro recognized a call to religious life while in the eighth grade when Fr. Daniel Lord told her that she had a vocation. She pushed it aside, but prayed for guidance of what she was to do. When she was a senior, she knew. She always wanted to wanted to work with children and the poor. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph on August 31, 1955, from Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish in Bradford and professed her final vows on August 15, 1961.

She graduated from St. Bernard High School in Bradford, PA, in 1955 and received her BS in Elementary Education from Villa Maria College, Erie. She later attended St. Mary’s University in Winona, Minnesota, where she received an MA in Social Ministry. She taught for more than 20 years in several Diocesan schools, including Blessed Sacrament, St. Joseph, Sacred Heart, Holy Rosary, Our Lady’s Christian, and Our Lady of Peace Schools in Erie. She also served as a McKean County Juvenile Probation Officer for 11 years. She was the Director of Religious Education at both Immaculate Conception Parish in Clarion, PA, and St. Mary’s Interparish in St. Marys, PA, where she combined three parish religious education programs. She facilitated many workshops on parenting skills and offered counseling for parents. She also taught CCD methods for the Diocese. She served her congregation as In-Home Coordinator at the Sisters of St. Joseph Community Living Center. She received an award for her work in religious education as well as an award from the Women’s Club of Bradford.

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