In Remembrance: Sister Rosemary Petrucelli

Sister Rosemary became a Public Health Nurse in New York City. She later served in the New York State Department of Health Systems Management as Consultant in Hospital Nursing Services for fourteen years and as a Health Program Administrator for eight years. During the last fifteen years of active ministry, she served as a Nurse Clinician and Coordinator in the Family AIDS Clinic of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Montefiore Family AIDS Clinic.

Sister Rosemary Petrucelli, Sister Marietta, was born January 12, 1933, in New Haven, Connecticut. She was one of four children, three daughters and one son of Emilio and Julia Rapuano Petrucelli. Rosemary attended Saint Martin of Tours Elementary in the Bronx and Cathedral High School in Manhattan. Upon graduation, she entered the Sisters of Charity of New York on September 8, 1950. After first vows, she was missioned as a nurse aide to Saint Vincent’s Hospital, Manhattan, beginning a fifty-five-year ministry in the nursing profession. She received a BS in Nursing from Hunter College, an MA in Nursing Services from Teachers College, Columbia University, and an MPA in Health Care Administration from C.W. Post, Long Island University, today LIU Post. New York State awarded her Permanent Certification as a Registered Nurse and as a Nursing Home Administrator.

In six years of service at Saint Vincent’s Hospital, Manhattan, Sister Rosemary advanced from Nurse Aide to Administrative Assistant of Nursing Services. In the next ten years at Saint Joseph’s Hospital (Medical Center), Yonkers, she served as Supervisor of the Operating Room, Clinical Instructor of Surgical Medicine, Assistant and Associate Director of Nursing Services, and Coordinator of Home Care and Saint Eleanora’s Nursing Home.

In 1970, Sister Rosemary became a Public Health Nurse in New York City. She later served in the New York State Department of Health Systems Management as Consultant in Hospital Nursing Services for fourteen years and as a Health Program Administrator for eight years. During the last fifteen years of active ministry, she served as a Nurse Clinician and Coordinator in the Family AIDS Clinic of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Montefiore Family AIDS Clinic.

In 2008, Sister Rosemary retired from full-time ministry and directed her service to other needs. She supported the Safe House of the Anti-Human Trafficking Group and volunteered with “Nuns Build” several times, rebuilding homes in Louisiana after Katrina. In 2018, she joined the retirement community at Mount Saint Vincent Convent and later moved to Kittay Senior Apartments in the Bronx. She died July 21, 2026, in the 76th year of commitment as a Sister of Charity of New York.

Sister Rosemary’s ministry as a health professional provided the highest level of care for the well-being of patients. She set in place needed policies or improved existing ones to adjust tochanging times. Her dedication formed her as a woman of healing in the time of people’s greatest vulnerability.

Sister Rosemary, you lived life with faith and kindness. Continue your journey into eternal life with the strength of knowing that the favors and kindness of our God are not exhausted; so great is God’s faithfulness (cf. Lm3: 2-23).