Sister Rosemary Petrucelli spent 76 years as a Sister of Charity of New York, devoting 55 of them to a nursing career that ranged from bedside care to hospital administration to AIDS clinic work, and continued serving vulnerable people well into her retirement
Sister Rosemary Petrucelli, Sister Marietta, was born Jan. 12, 1933, in New Haven, Conn. 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 Sept. 8, 1950. After first vows, she was missioned as a nurse aide to Saint Vincent’s Hospital, Manhattan, beginning a 55-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 10 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. She later served in the New York State Department of Health Systems Management as consultant in hospital nursing services for 14 years and as a health program administrator for eight years. During the last 15 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 entered eternal life 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 to changing 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).
Funeral: Monday, July 27, 2026
Wake: 9:00 – 10:30 am
Prayer Service at 10:00 am
Mount Saint Vincent Convent
Livestream link: https://venue.streamspot.com/217aa3db
Mass of Christian Burial: 10:45 am Mount Saint Vincent Convent
Livestream link: https://venue.streamspot.com/217aa3db
Interment: St. Joseph Cemetery,
209 Truman Avenue, Yonkers, NY 10703
Website Obituary https://scny.org/in-remembrance-sister-rosemary-petrucelli/