Sister Mary Corinne Gurka died Dec. 5, 2014, at Immaculate Conception Convent in Hamburg. She was 72.

Sandra Jean Gurka was born May 15, 1942, in Lawrence, Mass., to Matthew and Edna (Kaczenski) Gurka. She joined her order in 1959 and made her final vows in 1964.

Sister Mary Corinne, who held a bachelor's degree in education from Medaille College in Buffalo, taught at St. Columba School in Buffalo, Holy Trinity School in her hometown of Lawrence and St. Francis of Assisi School in Bessemer, Ala.

She became principal of Holy Trinity School in 1974, where she remained until 1994. After this, she was principal of Mater Dolorosa School in Holyoke, Mass., from 1995 to 2011. She retired in 2013.
Sister Mary Corinne is survived by close friends Sister Inez Ferrari, MPV, Father Jerome Gingras, Brother Frank Grimaldi, Norm Gosselin and Louise Gosselin.

A Mass was held in the chapel of Immaculate Conception Convent, with burial in St. Stanislaus Cemetery in Cheektowaga.