Sister Susan Gardella, RSHM, 67, entered eternal life peacefully at St. John’s Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, New York, on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. She had been a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary (RSHM) for 39 years.
Sister Susan’s years of ministry focused on helping families. She was a counselor with Pius XII Youth & Family Services at Bronx Family Court and director of Family Shelter Service for the Interfaith Nutrition Network in Long Island.
She was co-founder and co-director of the RSHM LIFE Center in Sleepy Hollow, which opened in 1995. She became executive director in 2001. During the 30 years since the center opened, the scope of its programs offered to the immigrant community and beyond, serving toddlers to seniors, has increased.
She was frequently consulted by other community leaders on matters relating to the Sleepy Hollow Latin or immigrant families. She served on the Tarrytown District Equity Committee, the Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative, and was a member of the North Tarrytown Housing Authority.
She served the RSHM Eastern American Area as a member of the Area Leadership Team (2021-2024). She had been a member of the board of trustees of Marymount Manhattan College and Istituto Marymount in Rome, Italy.
She received many awards recognizing her service, and most recently had been chosen to be the grand marshal of the 2025 Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Sister Susan is predeceased by her parents, William and Dorothy Bernard Gardella. She is survived by her cousins, Jane and Jackie Privitera, and by the members of her religious family.
Services will be at Marymount Convent, 32 Warren Ave., Tarrytown, New York. Visitation will be Thursday, January 23, 2025, from 4-7 p.m. with vigil service at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Friday, January 24, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. Interment will be at Mount Calvary Cemetery in White Plains.
We invite you to join us for the vigil service and Mass at Marymount Convent or by livestream on our website, where they will be archived.
In lieu of flowers, gifts in her name may be made to Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, 50 Wilson Park Drive, Tarrytown, NY 10591.