SISTER MIRIAM RITA KELSEY, SC, age 99, died at Caritas Christi, the motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill in Greensburg, on September 16. A native of Pittsburgh, Sister Miriam Rita entered the congregation of the Sisters of Charity on September 8, 1942, from Holy Innocents Parish, Sheraden. Preceded in death by her parents, Frederick and Emma (Willebrand) Kelsey, a brother, Fred, Jr., and three sisters, Mrs. Rebecca (George, Jr.) Quiter, Sister Mary Rebecca, SC and Mrs. Aimee (Lawrence) Killmeyer, she is survived by nieces and nephews. She earned a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s degree in secondary administration from Xavier University, Cincinnati. Sister Miriam Rita was assigned to the admissions office of the former Providence Hospital in Beaver Falls and then to the office of the registrar at Seton Hill University. Sister Miriam Rita ministered as a teacher and administrator in secondary schools of the Altoona-Johnstown, Greensburg, Phoenix and Pittsburgh dioceses. She was principal at Holy Innocents High School, Pittsburgh and at Seton High School, Chandler, AZ. She also ministered as the secretary, business manager at Sacred Heart High School and as a pastoral minister at Saint Jerome Parish in Charleroi. Sister Miriam Rita was named Assistant to the Archivist for the Sisters of Charity in 1988, a position she held until her retirement in 2003, when she continued to volunteer her services. Of her life as a Sister of Charity, Sister Miriam Rita reflected, “To be a Sister of Charity is a special gift from God, and a great privilege. I thank God every day for this gift and I hope that, during my lifetime, I have followed St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Vincent de Paul in bringing Christ to all whom I have met and served.”
