Sister Virginia Mahaney of the Sisters of St. Joseph died Oct. 15,
2003, at the congregation’s motherhouse. She was 79.
A native of St. Ambrose Parish, she entered the congregation in 1943
and received her bachelor’s degree from Nazareth College in 1952. Her
teaching career spanned more than 30 years and included service at St.
Aloysius, Auburn; St. Francis de Sales, Geneva; St. Jerome, East
Rochester; St. Monica, St. Ambrose, St. Bridget, Blessed Sacrament and
St. John the Evangelist, Rochester; and St. Elizabeth in Selma, Ala.
From 1979 until 1988, Sister Mahaney served as pastoral assistant,
first at Holy Ghost Parish, Gates and later at St. Joseph Parish,
Livonia. She then was a rural minister in Livingston County before
joining the SSJ Sisters Care ministry as caregiver of housebound
elders. In her retirement years, she assisted in the care of elder
sisters at the motherhouse.
Sister Mahaney is survived by her brother, John (Helen Jane) Mahaney
of Sacramento, Calif.; sister-in-law, Jane Mahaney of Burlington, Vt.;
nieces and nephews; and her sisters in the congregation.
Her funeral liturgy was celebrated in the motherhouse chapel on Oct.
23 with burial in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Memorial contributions may
be made to the Sisters of St. Joseph, 150 French Road, Rochester NY
14618.
