Sister Catherine Michael Brady died Jan. 8, 2017. She was 96 years of age.

The former Catherine Mary Brady was born Sept. 9, 1919, to Michael and Mary (Murray) Brady of Wilmington, Mass. She joined the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany at St. Elizabeth Motherhouse in 1946 and professed final vows in 1953.

She attended St. Elizabeth Teachers' College, now a part of St. Bonaventure University, and received a bachelor's degree in education with an English minor in 1965.

Sister Catherine Michael taught primarily students in lower grades, including remedial reading clinics during the regular school year and in summer school, as well as religious education classes. She taught at schools in New York, Florida, New Jersey and North Carolina.

She relocated to Allegany in 1972 to serve as an aide in the order's infirmary, help with tasks around the convent and provide clerical assistance to the St. Elizabeth Mission Society.

A funeral Mass was held in the chapel of St. Elizabeth Motherhouse, with burial in St. Bonaventure Cemetery in Allegany.