Maryknoll Sisters

Ossining, N.Y., May 11, 2026 ── Sister Mary Vertucci, M.M., a Maryknoll Sister of 62 years who empowered countless women as a mentor and visionary leader, died on April 30, 2026. She was 80.

Sr. Mary was born Aug. 28, 1945, in New Brunswick, N.J., to Micale and Adelaide Zarski Vertucci. She was the eldest of five children, and is survived by three sisters — Christina, Cecelia (Dee) and Michele — and her brother, John.

Sr. Mary graduated from St. Peter’s High School in New Brunswick, N.J., and entered the Maryknoll Sisters Congregation novitiate in Topsfield, Mass., on Sept. 2, 1964. She made her first vows on June 24, 1967, at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in New York, and final vows in Morogoro, Tanzania, on July 22, 1972. Sr. Mary earned an Associate of Arts degree from Mary Rogers College in 1968, and a B.A. in Chemistry from the College of St. Elizabeth. In 1982, she completed a certificate in Clinical Pastoral Education from Central Islip Psychiatric Hospital in Islip, N.Y.

In 1970, Sr. Mary was assigned to East Africa’s Tanzania, where she taught science courses to young women at the Korogwe Girls Secondary School, the Sekei Secondary School (formerly the Arusha Diocesan Youth Center) and the Murigha Girls School in Singida.

After teaching for many years, Sr. Mary spearheaded the development and opening of the Emusoi Center in Arusha, Tanzania, in 1999. There, girls and women of pastoralist and hunter-gatherer communities found a safe and supportive home of hope, where they were able to access information and discover their own worth through education. By 2025, more than 2,000 women passed through secondary school, vocational school and college or a university.

Grace Scorey, who completed the Emusoi Center’s program with the class of 2000, said that Sr. Mary “built leaders, champions and change-makers,” and that, “her legacy lives on in every girl she empowered and every woman who now stands strong in her community.”

Sr. Mary also accompanied many women as they discerned a call to the Maryknoll Sisters through her work with the Tanzania Vocation team, and as Director of the Congregational Admissions Team from 1982 until 1986. She also served as regional treasurer for sisters in Tanzania for the Dominican Sisters of Africa.

A wake for Sr. Mary was held on May 7, 2026, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y. A Mass of Christian Burial was said on May 8, 2026, also in the Annunciation Chapel.

Ossining, N.Y., April 22, 2026 ── Sister Rita Kane, M.M., a Maryknoll Sister of 82 years known for her wisdom and kindness, died on March 25, 2026. She was 105.

Sr. Rita was born on Sept. 11, 1920, to James and Marie Seidel Kane in Sterling, Illinois. She was one of eight children, and is predeceased by four brothers and two sisters. Her surviving sister, Joan, lives in Sterling, Illinois.

Sr. Rita graduated from Sterling’s Catholic Community High School in 1938 and entered Maryknoll on Sept. 6, 1944. She took her First Vows on March 7, 1947, and Final Vows on the same date three years later. That same year, Sr. Rita received a Bachelor of Education from Maryknoll Teachers College.

In her first assignment, Sr. Rita taught in New York City’s Chinatown. After one year, she was assigned to the Hawaii Region, where she would serve for the next 57 years. She taught elementary students in Kalihi and Maui, before an assignment in 1953 at the Maui Children’s Home, where she built deep connections with children in need until its closing in 1965. Sr. Rita’s next mission brought her to the service of troubled youth as a juvenile probation officer with Hawaii’s Family Court. In 1980, Sr. Rita joined the staff at a shelter for abused women and children, where she empowered them and connected them to community resources. After working with Maryknoll’s Mission Institute Program, Sr. Rita returned to Hawaii’s Waianae Coast in Nanakuli in 1998, offering counseling sessions to the native Hawaiian community through Child and Family Services.

In addition to her work in communities, Sr. Rita served on the Regional Governing Board twice, was elected as a delegate to the 1984 General Chapter and helped create the Diocesan Sisters Council. She also served on an Interfaith Urban Task Force, the Campaign for Human Development and the Hawaii Council of Churches.

Sr. Rita returned to the Maryknoll Sisters Center in 2007, where she continued volunteer work and sharing her kindness and generosity with the Sister community until her passing.

A wake for Sr. Rita was held on April 9, 2026, in the Annunciation Chapel of the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Ossining, N.Y. A Memorial Mass was said on April 10, 2026, also in the Annunciation Chapel.