“Each one of us is made for something, and this [religious life] was my calling.”

Sister Rita Elizabeth Moon (Sister Elizabeth Regina) was born on June 7, 1926 in Bronx, NY, the only child of James and Matilda Borchert Moon. Rita attended Holy Name School, Cathedral High School, and the Baby Nurse Program at the New York Foundling Hospital before entering the Sisters of Charity of New York on February 1, 1947. Sister Rita received her BA in History from the College of Mount Saint Vincent.

Sister Rita’s first assignment was to teach second grade in Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Scarsdale, which was unexpected considering her training as a baby nurse. She enjoyed teaching very much and remained in elementary education for the rest of her ministerial life. She taught in elementary schools for the next thirty years including: Saint Paul, Brooklyn; Saint Ignatius Loyola, Manhattan; Blessed Sacrament and Saint Athanasius, Bronx; Blessed Sacrament, Manhattan; Saint Francis of Assisi, Mount Kisco; Our Lady of Mercy, Port Chester; and Saint Joachim, Beacon. Sister Rita remained in education for another twenty years at Saint Peter School, Poughkeepsie, directing the Learning Center, teaching in the parish School of Religion, and as a substitute teacher. In an article written in the Poughkeepsie newspaper when Sister Rita was celebrating her Golden Jubilee as a Sister of Charity, she is quoted as saying, “It doesn’t seem possible it has been really 50 years. Each one of us is made for something, and this [religious life] was my calling.” Sister Rita remained at St. Peter’s Parish into the early years of her retirement. When she went to live at the Convent of Mary the Queen in Yonkers, she was still very active visiting sisters and helping out in any way she could. She began the recitation of the Divine Mercy chaplet with a group of sisters who would “keep watch” as sisters made their final journey home to her God. In 2015, Sister Rita moved to Schervier Nursing Care Center in the Bronx with other sisters from Mary the Queen.

All those who encountered Sister Rita remember her with a pleasant smile on her face, compassion in her heart, always kind and loving with small children as well as the elderly, and listening to all with a cheerful disposition. We rejoice with Sister Rita now as she enters the peace and joy of God’s kingdom and is reunited with her family, friends and all the Sisters of Charity who have gone before her. Our God, whom she served so well, now embraces her with loving arms.

Rest in peace, Sister Rita Elizabeth.