Sister Frances Miritello, longtime educator with the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, died Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019, at Olean General Hospital. She was 76.

The daughter of Carmine and Anna Diorio Miritello was born Nov. 3, 1943, in Brooklyn.

Sister Frances attended elementary and high schools in Brooklyn. She attended St. Elizabeth Teacher College in Allegany, receiving a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from St. Bonaventure University. She received her master's of arts degree in Reading from Glassboro State College, now known as Rowan University, in Glassboro, N.J.

Sister Frances entered the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany on Sept. 8, 1962, was received into the congregation on July 2, 1963, and professed her final vows on Aug. 30, 1970.

Sister Frances was an educator in congregational schools in New York and New Jersey for close to 35 years. She served as local minister of St. Agnes Convent in Blackwood. She also served as an educational assistant for Camden County Educational Services, at Christ the King School, Haddonfield, N.J., as well as assisted in the library. 

In 2003, Sister Frances semi-retired at Our Lady of Lourdes Convent in Camden, N.J., and six years later to Sister Mary Convent in Haddonfield. She always kept busy with the upkeep of the house and its surroundings. In 2015, Sister officially retired and was welcomed home to St. Elizabeth Motherhouse where she volunteered in the archives, assisting with the documentation of historical information for the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany. 

Sister Frances is predeceased by her parents. She is survived by her brother, Brother Louis Miritello, OSF, a Franciscan Brother of Brooklyn.   

A wake service will be held on Thursday, Dec. 26, at 6:30 p.m. in the chapel of St. Elizabeth Motherhouse in Allegany.  A funeral Mass is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 27, at 10 a.m. in the chapel. Burial will follow in St. Bonaventure Cemetery, Allegany.