Sr. GhioA memorial Mass for Sister Nancy Ghio, RSCJ, will be celebrated June 3 in the Oakwood Chapel in Atherton, California. Sister Nancy died March 31 in Atherton. She was 98 years old and a member of the Society of the Sacred Heart for 78 years.
Nancy Ghio was born on Sept. 4, 1924, in St. Louis to Humbert S. Ghio and Mary Sheehan Ghio. She had two brothers. Nancy entered the Society of the Sacred Heart at Kenwood in Albany, New York, in 1944 and pronounced her first vows there in 1946. She left for probation in 1952 and made her final profession on Feb. 11, 1953, in Rome.
Sister Nancy graduated from Maryville University with a degree in education and taught in Sacred Heart schools for close to 70 years, teaching English literature and composition primarily to middle school students.
After finishing her novitiate in Albany, she returned to St. Louis in 1946 to teach at City House for one year, followed by Villa Duchesne until 1950. She then went on to the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles (1950-52). She returned to Villa Duchesne in 1953 for one year, followed by the Academy of the Sacred Heart (the Rosary) in New Orleans (1954-55).
From 1955 to 1958, she taught at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles. She returned to City House in 1958 for two years, followed by the Academy of the Sacred Heart, St. Charles (1960-64). Sister Ghio became the coordinator of activities for the Shrine of St. Philippine Duchesne in St. Charles for a short time. Her last active years were spent at Villa Duchesne in St. Louis.
Over the years, she taught a few grandmothers, many mothers and their children. She loved them all, and said that, “God’s greatest gifts to us were children and flowers, and I particularly love them in bunches!”
Sister Nancy moved from the Jaccard Lane community next to Villa Duchesne in St. Louis to the Oakwood Retirement Center in Atherton, California, in 2020.