Age 104
Sister Mary dePazzi truly lived her motto, “all for thee,” by her prayerfulness, by cherishing life in all its phases and developing her many gifts and encouraging others to do the same.
A centenarian when she died at the age of 104, she grew up in St. Gerard’s Parish in the Hollis neighborhood of Queens, New York. Number eight of eleven children, she was influenced by the Sisters of Mercy who ministered in the parish. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in Syosset, New York, at the age of 18, after attending the Mercy Juniorate. She adopted the name DePazzi after a 16th century Italian Carmelite nun and mystic.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from St. John’s University in Brooklyn, New York. An educator for five decades, she taught kindergarten for ten years at St. Agatha’s in Brooklyn, New York. She also ministered as a librarian for 18 years at Holy Trinity High School in Hicksville, New York, guiding teenagers to do research and enjoy learning in new ways.
A gardener and an artist, her devotion to the rosary and daily mass made her an example to all.