Tuesday, March 17, 2009

A Mass of Christian Burial for Sister of Charity Frances Loretto Lopez was held on March 16 in the Immaculate Conception Chapel at the congregation’s Delhi Township motherhouse. She died on March 8 at the age of 101. Sister Frances Loretto was the oldest member of the congregation.

Sister of Charity Frances Loretto Lopez (Courtesy photo)

A Native of Albuquerque, N.M., Sister Frances Loretto began her work as Sister of Charity in 1927 as a group mother at St. Aloysius in Fayetteville, Ohio. From there she was missioned to St. Joseph Hospital in Albuquerque, where she worked in food services from 1928 to 1930. She then moved to Santa Fe to work in health care at Villa Therese Clinic where her duties included serving as a Spanish translator and visiting the sick. In 1949 Sister Frances Loretto returned to St. Joseph Hospital, resuming her food services position for the next 23 years. From 1972 until 1982 she ministered in the visitors program at the hospital. Sister Frances Loretto assumed retirement duties at The Gardens at St. Elizabeth Senior Living Community in Denver, Colo., from 1982 to 1986, when she moved to the Sisters of Charity motherhouse. There she worked in a variety of support services. She retired to serve in the congregation’s ministry of prayer in 1992.

Sister Frances Loretto is survived by her brother, Tony Sedillo.

Interment was in the Sisters of Charity cemetery.