Sister Josephine Cioffi, IHM, (formerly known as Sr. M. Lucia) of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Saturday, May 20, 2023, at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

She was born on August 6, 1940, in New York City, and given the name Josephine Theresa. She was the daughter of the late John and Luisa Cioffi. She entered the IHM Congregation on September 8, 1958, and made her temporary profession of vows on March 11, 1961, and her final profession of vows on March 11, 1966. Sr. Cioffi received a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education from Marywood College, a Master of Science degree in mathematics from the Catholic University of America, and a Certificate of Advanced Educational Studies in administration and supervision from Boston College.

Sr. Cioffi served as a teacher at the following schools: Our Lady of Good Counsel Elementary School in Inwood, from 1961 to 1963; St. John the Baptist Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Penn., from 1963 to 1965; St. Raymond Elementary School in East Rockaway, from 1965 to 1967; St. Mary of Mount Carmel Elementary School in Dunmore, Penn., from 1967 to 1968; Nativity of Our Lord Elementary School in Scranton, Penn., from 1968 to 1973; St. Paul Elementary School in Cranston, Rhode Island, from 1973 to 1974; and Notre Dame Elementary School in East Stroudsburg, Penn., from 1978 to 1979.

Sr. Cioffi served as principal at the following schools: St. Paul Elementary School in Cranston, R.I., from 1974 to 1978; Most Holy Rosary Elementary School in Syracuse from 1979 to 1982; St. Patrick Elementary School in Scranton, Penn., from 1982 to 1984; and at St. Ann Elementary School in New York, from 1984 to 2014. Sr. Cioffi was the first principal of the newly formed Nativity Miguel School of Scranton, a co-sponsored ministry of the IHM Congregation, from 2015 to 2017.

Sr. Cioffi also served as an instructor for the after-school program at Mt. Carmel/Holy Rosary School in New York, from 2014 to 2015; coordinator of inner-city school scholarships for the Development Office of the Archdiocese of New York from 2014 to 2015; and as an instructor at the Educational Enrichment Institute at the IHM Center in Scranton from 2017 to 2019.

From 2019 until the time of her death, Sr. Cioffi was a prayer minister at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton.

She is preceded in death by a sister, Frances Stein. She is survived by a sister, Jeanette Caruso of Cincinnati, Ohio, nieces and nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews. She is also survived by the members of the IHM Congregation.

The funeral will be Tuesday, May 30 at 11:00 a.m. with Mass of Christian Burial at Our Lady of Peace Residence, 2300 Adams Avenue in Scranton. Friends may call at Our Lady of Peace Residence on Tuesday, May 30, between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. A prayer service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow Mass on Tuesday at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, Penn.

Memorial contributions may be made to support the retired IHM Sisters c/o the IHM Sisters Retirement Fund, IHM Center, 2300 Adams Avenue, Scranton, PA 18509.