SISTER PATRICIA COLLINS, SC, formerly Sister Marie Alicia, age 85, died at Caritas Christi, the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in Greensburg, on April 6. Born in East Pittsburgh, Sister Patricia entered the congregation of the Sisters of Charity on September 8, 1950, from St. Mary Magdalene Parish, Homestead. Preceded in death by her parents, John and Alice (Brown) Collins, and a brother, George, she is survived by two brothers, Donald and James Collins, nieces and nephews. Sister Patricia earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Seton Hill University and a master’s degree in history from Duquesne University. She taught students in junior and senior high school levels in schools of the Altoona, Greensburg and Pittsburgh dioceses. From 1982 through 1990, she was a co-manager of Saint Therese Plaza, Munhall and from 1990-1991, she served in pastoral care ministry at Allegheny General Hospital. From 1991 until 2007, Sister Patricia was a member of the staff at Ursuline Services, Inc., in Pittsburgh, offering guardianship care for the financial and personal needs of the incapacitated elderly in Allegheny County. In 2007, she began ministry at the Little Sisters of the Poor as assistant director for development, a position she held until 2010. An astute historian and uncomplicated personality, Sister Patricia once stated, “Through the experiences of good days and bad days, my faith has deepened and strengthened. Each sister has been God’s instrument to help with that growth.”
