Franciscan Sister Mary Elizabeth Coleman, a former educator in the Diocese of Trenton, died Nov. 14 at age 80.
Funeral services will be held Nov. 21 in Assisi House, Aston, Pennsylvania, beginning with a Christian Wake Service at 9:30 a.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 11. All services will be livestreamed.
The former Sister Daniel Patrice had been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for 58 years. She was born in Winchester, Massachusetts, and she entered the congregation in 1962 and professed her first vows in 1965. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in English from Our Lady of Angels College, now Neumann University, Aston, and a master of arts degree in pastoral counseling from Emmanuel College in Boston.
Sister Mary Elizabeth served primarily in the ministries of education and social work, including 32 years in the Archdiocese of Boston; 10 years in the Trenton Diocese, and in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In the Trenton Diocese, she taught junior high school in St. Mary of the Lakes School, Medford, as well as in Immaculate Conception School, Trenton, and St. Anthony School, Hamilton.
In 2020 she moved to Assisi House, the congregation’s retirement residence in Aston, where she served in prayer and hospitality ministry until her death.
Sister Mary Elizabeth is survived by her nieces and nephews, and her Franciscan family. Internment of ashes will be in Our Lady of Angels Cemetery.
Memorial donations can be made to the Sisters of St. Francis Foundation, 609 S. Convent Rd., Aston, Pennsylvania 19014.