Sister Marilyn Archer, OSF, died Feb. 8, 2017, at the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity's health center in Stella Niagara. She was 96.

The former Maryanne Archer was born Jan. 22, 1921, in Somerset, Ohio, to Urban and Bernice (Harris) Archer. She joined the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity in Stella Niagara in 1939 and professed perpetual vows in 1944.

Sister Marilyn received a bachelor's degree from St. Mary of the Springs College in Columbus, Ohio, in 1952, and a master's degree from Assumption College in Worcester, Mass., in 1960. She also studied in France and received a Ph.D. in French literature from the Sorbonne in Paris in 1974.

From 1959-62, she taught at Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart, and between 1962-69 and 1971-72, she served as a teacher at Rosary Hill/Daemen College in Amherst. Outside of Buffalo, she served at schools in the dioceses of Columbus and Wheeling/Charleston, S.C., as a teacher.

Sister Marilyn served as a religious education coordinator, teacher, and in pastoral care in Alaska, California, Colorado, Guam and Arizona from 1976-90. From 1990-93, she served as chaplain of the Mercy Nursing Home and as a tutor of the Boys' and Girls Club, both in Phoenix, Ariz.

Additionally, in the early 1990s, Sister Marilyn was part of a discernment group studying locations for service for the U.S. Interprovincial Mission in Mexico. This resulted in a novitiate in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2017.

Sister Marilyn retired in 1993. She moved back home to Stella Niagara in 2007 and became a resident of the Stella Niagara Health Center in 2008.

She is survived by nieces, nephews and cousins.

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