Sister Nancy Grassia, of the Sisters of St. Francis of Stella Niagara, died Oct. 14, 2015, at Mount St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston. She was 79 years old.

She was born June 5, 1936, to Joseph and Nunzia Frances (Latona) Grassia. She began her ministry as an educator in 1958, when she taught at St. Leo School in Columbus, Ohio. She also taught at St. Agnes School in Atlantic Highlands, N.J., and St. Mary's School in New Monmouth, N.J., before returning to Western New York in 1964 as a teacher and principal of Stella Niagara Elementary School. Sister Nancy went to Rosary Hill College, now Daemen College in Amherst, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1969.

Sister Nancy also served at St. Joachim School in Buffalo and Our Lady of Lebanon School in Niagara Falls before returning to New Jersey in 1973, where she served as supervisor of diocesan education for the Diocese of Trenton. She returned to receive a master's degree from Niagara University in 1977.

In New Jersey, Sister Nancy became administrator of Perth Amboy School in 1987. In 1990, she began serving as administrative coordinator of the Upper Room Spiritual Center in Neptune, N.J., before moving to Woodbridge, also in New Jersey, to serve as pastoral assistant at St. James Parish. In 1995, Sister Nancy was named assistant superintendent of diocesan schools for the Diocese of Paterson. She served in Little Falls and Maywood before serving in Newark from 2011 until her retirement in 2015.

Sister Nancy is survived by sisters Charlotte Edlefsen and Josephine Stamotakis; a brother, John (Suzzanne) Grassia, and her siblings' families.

A funeral Mass was held in the sisters' chapel at Stella Niagara, with burial in Stella Niagara Cemetery.