 Sister Grace Pasquarello, faithful Sister of St. Joseph, died at St. Joseph Villa, Flourtown, on July 27, 2011; her Mass of Christian Burial took place at the Villa on August 1.
Sister Grace, who was born in Glenside, PA on May 25, 1931, was the eighth child of Michael and Mary Pasquarella. She attended St. Luke School, Glenside and later Little Flower High School, from which she graduated in 1949.
One year later, in 1950, Grace entered the Sisters of St. Joseph and was received into the Congregation on March 27, 1951, and received the name, Sister Marian Teresita. She took temporary vows in 1952 and professed her perpetual vows in August of 1958.
Grace received her A. B. degree from Chestnut Hill College in 1970. By that time she had been teaching in various schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, in the dioceses of Allentown, Camden, Harrisburg and others. Among the schools where she taught are included St. Leo, Philadelphia, Holy Savior, Linwood, parishes in Chambersburg, PA, Manasquan, NJ, at Star of the Sea, Cape, May, NJ, St. Patrick, Pottsville, St Thomas More, Chapel Hill, NC; these name a few of the places where she ministered. In 1986, she felt called to serve the poor in Appalachia as a summer volunteer; she returned the next summer and finally, in 1988, she and Sister Anna Louise Schuck founded the Catholic Mission in Phelps, Kentucky. When Sister Anna Louise was re-missioned elsewhere, Sister Eleanor McNicol replaced her in working with Grace. During the last nine years of her work in Kentucky, Grace was there by herself. Long before this time, Grace was no longer known as S. Marian Theresita; she had chosen to return to her baptismal name.
Together with Sister Anna Louise and Father Hoppenjan, Grace sought out the poorest of the poor and responded to their many needs. They established literacy programs, Bible study, social networking, Habitat for Humanity, transportation availability and even a thrift store. She drove children to school; she noticed those things that were needed by people who had little to no income, resources or education and made sure that their needs were met. She was the initial negotiator in bringing two T-shirt factories to the area; these subsequently employed over 100 residents. Early in her work there, she and Anna Louise and a gentleman by the name of Charles “Monk” Sanders refurbished an old building and opened a thrift store; it was successful enough to merit a story in the newspaper, the headline indicating that it was run by “a monk and two nuns”.
Grace was a nurturer of people, of the environment, of her own well being, of her heritage. She was life-giving to the poorest of the poor in Kentucky; she brought a new consciousness to preserving and sustaining Planet Earth; she had a zest for life and she loved a party and in deference to her heritage, she placed an Italian flag over her bed.
As was stated so well at her funeral liturgy, we are truly inspired by the simplicity, genuine goodness and commitment of Sister Grace Pasquarello. She was a true Sister of St. Joseph-“ready for any good work”. She made our world, our Congregation better because she was part of it.
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