Sister Virginia L. Pace, MPF, 83, former seventh and eighth grade teacher at schools in Merchantville and Hammonton, died Aug. 10 in Saint Joseph Hall, Villa Walsh, Morristown, N.J.
Born and raised in Exeter, Pa., Sister Virginia entered the Religious Teachers Filippini in Morristown on June 11, 1950, and received the religious habit on Sept. 2, 1951. She made her final religious profession on Aug. 22, 1954.
A seasoned middle school teacher, she taught in the Archdioceses of Newark and Philadelphia, and the Dioceses of Trenton, Paterson and Camden.
From 1959-62, and again from 1966-68, Sister Virginia educated the seventh and eighth graders of Saint Joseph Elementary School in Hammonton. During the 1971-72 school year, she taught eighth grade at Saint Peter Elementary School in Merchantville.
Her last teaching assignment was at Villa Walsh Academy, where she taught for 17 years.
During her years in retirement, Sister Virginia volunteered her time as a telephone operator at Villa Walsh, Motherhouse of the Filippini Sisters.
She was very faithful to organizing the spiritual library on its campus and was artistically gifted, according to the community.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Aug. 13 in the Saint Lucy Chapel, Villa Walsh, Morristown. Interment followed at the Ave Maria Cemetery.
Sister Virginia is survived by her sisters, Elaine (Thomas) Olerta, Joanne (George) Weiss, Gail (Paul) Johnson, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Donations in memory of Sister Virginia Pace may be sent to St. Joseph Hall, c/o Sr. Ascenza Tizzano, MPF, Provincial Superior, Villa Walsh, 455 Western Avenue, Morristown, NJ 07960.