Obituary of Sister Rose Marie Padovano, SC

Sister of Charity and College of Saint Elizabeth Professor Sister Rose Marie Padovano, SC, (1937-2017) passed from this life in her eightieth year of ministry and service. In a remarkably diverse career, there were five anchors which served to stabilize and identify her work. The first of these was her sixty-three years with the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station, New Jersey. She was profoundly impacted by the Second Vatican Council and its openness to the world at large, especially other Christian Churches and major religions. She served her own Community in its General Assembly work and as a Councilor and Assistant Provincial for the Southern Province. A second anchor was her many years of formal training and degrees: a Doctor of Ministry from Drew University (full scholarship); a doctorate degree as an Educational Specialist from Rutgers; a MA from Boston College in Education and Theology; and a BS in Elementary Education from the College of Saint Elizabeth. A third anchor was her work as an academic. She taught as a tenured college professor at the College of Saint Elizabeth for 35 years beginning in 1982. Sister Rose Marie was also an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University and Ramapo College as well as a consultant for Silver Burdette Publishing Company. Her extensive travel to six of the seven continents on the planet served as a fourth anchor. A fifth anchor was her work in promoting education in Kenya and the critique of teacher education programs in China, bringing her to five major cities in that vast country. She also wrote five books and twenty-two articles. Sister Rose Marie was cited in some fifteen biographical listings. She leaves behind her dearest friend Sister Patricia Codey, SC, Esq., the Sisters of Charity, as well as a beloved brother, Dr. Anthony T. Padovano, his wife Theresa and their four children and spouses, Paul, Mark and Erin, Andrew and Amy, Rosemarie and Marcello, and her three grandnieces and a grandnephew. Her parents, Mary (Cierzo) and Thomas Padovano predeceased her. Sister Rose Marie gave her life to the world at large and to those close companions without whom life loses its richness and its deepest grace. She herself was gracious, humorous, kind and helpful as a mentor to countless people. Sister Rose Marie wrapped her community, family and many friends in a rare kind of pure love without judgment, and their powerful and undying dedication to her will always be a testament to how deeply they felt that love. Sister Rose Marie's wake will be held on Sunday, May 7, 2017, from 1PM to 5PM at Holy Family Chapel, Convent Station, followed by a liturgy at 5:30PM. Interment will be at Holy Family Cemetery, Convent Station on Monday, May 8, 2017 at 10 AM. Flowers will be accepted at Holy Family Chapel as well as donations to the Sisters of Charity, Development Fund, P.O. Box 476, Convent Station, NJ 07961-0476. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Codey and Jones Funeral Home, Caldwell.