Sister Mary Petra Zanghi, F.M.S.C.

Sister Mary Petra Zanghi, F.M.S.C., a member of the General Council of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Rome for 12 years, died on July 31 in the infirmary at Mount St. Francis in Peekskill. She was 89.

Sister Petra served on the General Council in Rome, 1975-1987.

She taught at Maria Regina High School, Hartsdale, 2000-2002; Assumption School, Peekskill, 1990-1994; Franciscan High School, Mohegan Lake, 1987-1990; Cathedral High School, Manhattan, 1959-1966; and St. Veronica’s School, Manhattan, 1950-1959.

She served at St. Anthony’s parish, the Bronx, 1999-2000; worked at the rectory at Assumption parish, Peekskill, 1996-1999; and was a group mother at St. Joseph’s Home, Peekskill, 1970-1972.

She also served as vocation director of the St. Francis Province, was a member of the provincial council and was the longtime moderator of the province’s lay associate members.

She also taught in New Jersey and was a principal in Philadelphia.

Born in Philadelphia, she entered the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart in 1948 and professed final vows in 1955.

She received a bachelor’s degree from Fordham University, and a master’s in religious education from La Salle University in Philadelphia and a master’s in business education from New York University.

A Funeral Mass was celebrated on Aug. 3 at St. Margaret of Cortona Chapel in Peekskill. Burial was in the sisters’ cemetery.