AUBURN — Sister Rita Pelletier, OP, born in Lewiston on July 27, 1930, the daughter of Joseph and Marie-Louise (Beland) Pelletier died Tuesday, April 3, at Clover Healthcare in Auburn at the age of 87. Sr. Rita was baptized and confirmed at Saints Peter and Paul Church and is a graduate of St. Dominic High School, Class of 1949. Entering the Dominican Sisters in 1953, she received her initial formation in Mortefontaine, France, where she made her first religious profession in 1955. Three years later she made her final religious profession in Lewiston.
Active in internal services for her Dominican Communities in Brookline, Massachusetts, and Sabattus, Maine, in 1972, Sr. Rita received her nursing degree from Central Maine Vocational Institute in Auburn. She then became a health care provider serving as a nurse at the Marcotte Home in Lewiston, the Bishop Drumm Nursing Home and the Dr. Boesen Clinic in Des Moines, Iowa.
Between 1973 and 1986, Sister Rita was at St. Anne’s Mission on the Navajo Indian Reservation in Klagetoh, Arizona, serving as liturgical minister, mission worker and health care provider in Klagetoh, Ganado and Page, Arizona. In community, Sister Rita was a local prioress and local treasurer in Klagetoh, Arizona, and Des Moines, Iowa. She was also of great service to the province as a provincial councilor from 1988 to 1992.
She was predeceased by her parents, her brothers, the Rev. Rosaire Pelletier, OP, Maurice Pelletier, Fernand Pelletier and Adrien Pelletier. Her sisters, Carmen Bachand, Jeanne Roy, Blanche Carrier and Yvonne Pelletier.
She is survived by her sister, Therese Morin from Auburn, several nieces and nephews, and her Dominican Sisters.
The Dominican Community thanks Sister Rita for her years of faithful service and for her positive and joy-filled attitude. The sisters want to express their gratitude to the staff at St. Mary’s d’Youville Pavilion and Clover Healthcare for their care and compassion for Sister Rita. Online condolences at thefortingrouplewiston.com.
Rita Pelletier
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