A Mass of Christian Burial for Sister Anne Joseph Edelen, D.C., was celebrated Sept. 13, 2014, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Md. Burial followed at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Emmitsburg.
Sister Anne Joseph died Sept. 8, 2014, at Villa St. Michael in Emmitsburg. She was 94 years of age and 75 years vocation as a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
Born Nov. 7, 1919, in Baltimore, Md., Sister Anne Joseph was the second of two children born to William and Anna (Macatee) Edelen. Sister Anne Joseph’s sister, Sister Mary Helen Edelen, was also a Daughter of Charity; she died in 2011. Sister Anne Joseph was baptized Anne Edelen.
Sister Anne Joseph was a 1938 graduate of Seton High School in Baltimore. In 1951, Sister Anne Joseph earned her Bachelor of Science degree in early child education from St. Joseph College in Emmitsburg. In 1954, she completed her master’s degree in social work at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Sister Anne Joseph joined the Daughters of Charity Dec. 2, 1938, in Emmitsburg. In 1940, she was sent on her first mission to St. Vincent Home in Detroit, Mich., as a teacher and child care worker. After serving two years in Detroit, she continued with a similar ministry at St. Vincent Home in Albany, N.Y., (1943-1950) and at Sarah Fisher Home in Farmington Hills, Mich. (1950-1958). After earning her master’s degree in social work, Sister Anne Joseph served as a case worker at Astor Home in Rhinebeck, N.Y. (1958); at Catholic Home Bureau in New York City (1958-1968); at Catholic Charities in Washington, D.C. (1968-1973); and at Catholic Social Ministries in Raleigh, N.C. (1973-1980), where she became good friends with the late Bishop F. Joseph Gossman—a friendship that lasted until his death in 2013. Sister Anne Joseph served as a pastoral associate and social minister at St. Francis Parish in Staunton, Va. (1980-1983) and at St. Joseph Parish in Petersburg, Va. (1983-1985). From 1985 to 1991, she served at Catholic Charities in Charleston, S.C., and from 1991 to 1997 at Catholic Charities in Greensboro, N.C. Her next mission was at St. Cyprian Parish in Georgetown, S.C., where she worked in parish outreach (1997-1999). This was followed by ministry as an outreach worker at the Neighborhood Center in Fayetteville, N.C. (1999-2001). In 2001, she was missioned to Villa St. Michael in Emmitsburg where she served in the Ministry of Prayer until her death.
Sister Anne Joseph was preceded in death by her parents and her sister. She is survived by her Sisters in Community.