Sister Geraldine Canale, MPF, 92, a longtime educator and pastoral minister in Hammonton and beyond, died Nov. 20 at Saint Joseph Hall, Villa Walsh, Morristown.
Born in Watertown, N.Y., Sister Geraldine entered the Religious Teachers Filippini in 1949. She received the habit in 1950 and made her Perpetual Oblation in 1953. Sister Geraldine earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s in education from Seton Hall University in South Orange.
In her 75 years of religious life, Sister Geraldine served as classroom teacher of the primary grades, special education, classroom aide, catechist and parish pastoral minister.
In the Diocese of Camden, she was assigned to Saint Joseph Parish (now Saint Mary of Mount Carmel) and School in Hammonton on three different occasions. She taught first grade from 1964-1965, and again from 1978-1994. From 2004-2020, she was parish pastoral minister.
In addition to serving in the Diocese of Camden, she served in the (arch)dioceses of Newark and Trenton in the State of New Jersey; Scranton, Pa.; and in Brooklyn, New York and Ogdensburg, N.Y.
In addition, Sister Geraldine was appointed local convent superior.
She returned to the motherhouse, Villa Walsh, in 2020.
She is predeceased by her parents, Nicholas and Josephine (Marzano) Canale, and her six siblings: Sister Anita Canale, MPF; Rose, Rocco and Richard Canale; Gloria Annitto and Martha Schnurr. She is also survived by nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews – and their families – as well as many friends.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Nov. 24; Sister Geraldine was interred at Ave Maria Cemetery in Morristown.
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