Sister Stella Marie Burke (Sister Saint Gregory), 102, beloved member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield for 77 years, died on March 8, 2014 at Mont Marie Health Care Center, Holyoke, Mass. Born in Laconia, N.H., she was the daughter of Joseph and Roseanna (Auger) Burke.
Sister Stella entered the Sisters of St Joseph of Rutland in 1937 from Sacred Heart Parish, Bennington, Vermont. She became a Sister of St. Joseph of Springfield in 2001 when the two Communities merged. Sister was graduated from Mt. St. Joseph Novitiate High School in Rutland, Vermont. She earned her BS degree at Nazareth College, Rochester, N.Y.
Among Sister Stella’s teaching assignments in Vermont were St. Francis de Sales, Bennington; St. Charles, Bellows Falls; St. Michael’s, Brattleboro; St. Mary’s, Fair Haven; St. Peter’s and Mt. St. Joseph, Rutland; Brandon Training School and College of St. Joseph the Provider, where she served on the library staff. In her retirement she resided at Mount St. Joseph, Rutland and then Mont Marie, Holyoke, Mass.
In addition to her Sisters in Community, she is survived by her niece, Janet Rogers of Bennington, Vermont. She was predeceased by her sister, Sr. Ann Francis Burke, and by her brothers Joseph Lionel Burke and Joseph G. “Jim” Burke.