Sr. Anita McArdle, SFP

December 29, 1929 – March 13, 2021

Sr. Anita’s passion for life itself was fulfilled by her commitment to Jesus, her desire to be a faithful follower of St. Francis, St. Clare and Blessed Frances Schervier (Foundress of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor), and her efforts to be a true Sister to each person in integrity and love. Looking back at the breadth and depth of her life, one could easily say that she was faithful to her God and to her passion; her life’s calling.

Anna Imelda was born on December 29, 1929, the sixth of seven children born to Edward and Mary Agnes McArdle in Bronx, New York. Together with her sisters and brothers, Helen, James, Edward, Thomas, Margaret and Patricia, she attended PS 43 in the Bronx for her elementary years, and then attended Walton High School for two years, before going on to graduate from St. John High School in Goshen, New York two years later.

Reflecting on her call to religious life, Sister Anita said “the deep and abiding faith of my parents and family attracted me to religious life. Another great witness to me was my experience (at the tender age of 13) of working on a surgical unit with a Franciscan Sister of the Poor. This experience made it clear to me that I was called to the ministry of healing.”

Anna Imelda entered the Franciscan Sister of the Poor on September 8, 1946, at Mount Alverno Convent, Warwick, NY. She made her First Profession of Vows on May 10, 1949 and her Perpetual Profession of Vows on May 11, 1954. Vatican II greatly influenced her image of God. “In my growing up, God was powerful and mighty, One who demanded, and punished accordingly – influenced a lot by Jansenism. Post-Vatican II, my image of God, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit, changed to a God of love and supreme mercy… my God today is a more personal God… I have come to know [Jesus] most intimately as my friend and confidant thru the many crosses of my religious life. With the death of her brother, she “fully realized that ‘things’ were not important – people are”. She wanted her re-lationships with her Sisters to be more than perfunctory and allowed herself to grow into deeper friendships with her Sisters and her friends.

Though Sr. Anita was initially trained as a nurse at St. Michael School of Nursing in Newark, New Jersey, she spent only about 7 years providing hands-on nursing. Her potential for leadership had been discovered early, and she went on to study in various related fields, getting her Master’s Degree in Nursing from St. John University in 1962 and became certified in Hospital Administration from St. Louis University in 1974. She worked in various health care administrative positions in various hospitals in New Jersey before becoming Director of the School of Nursing at St. Francis Community Health Center. After serving for three years as Provincial Councilor for St. Anthony Province of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, she returned to hospital ministry in 1969 as administrator of several hospitals in New Jersey, spending 16 years at St. Francis Community Hospital. She became the Executive Director of Mt. Alverno Center in Warwick, New York, for 10 years, before she was again elected to serve the Congregation as Regional Councilor in 1997. Sr. Anita finally was able to embrace a ministry of prayer and presence beginning in 2002.
Moving back to New Jersey, Sr. Anita joined St. Paul Parish in Ramsey, becoming an active member of the parish as Eucharistic Minister and Lector. At her 60th Anniversary, Sr. Anita said “living a community life and sharing the same values as the rest of my Franciscan Sisters has given me so many opportunities to deepen my spiritual life. The spiritual formation and academic education I received from the Franciscan Sisters have given me the gifts and skills needed to serve the people of God in healthcare . . . I hope and pray to remain faithful until God calls me home. I pray that the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor will continue to attract women to the charism of Blessed Frances Schervier.”

Sr. Anita returned to Mt. Alverno Convent to continue her ministry of prayer and presence in 2015. As her health declined, she moved to the Magnificat Community at St. Clare Convent in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2017.

Sr. Anita passed into the heart of God on the afternoon of Saturday, March 13, 2021 at the age of 91. She will be remembered lovingly by her Franciscan Sisters of the Poor and her family, especially her devoted nephew, Tom and her niece, Kathy Perlman. Sr. Anita valued relationships with others and consistently made room for them in her life and heart. She knew well the importance of enjoying life as it arrived and had a healthy balance when engaging with others. Above all, in recent years, she gave of herself in prayer and accepted the unfolding plan of God for her to the end.

Sr. Jo-Ann Jackowski, SFP

Sr. Anita McArdle
Walking with Jesus

Embracing life with style and flair

and a sparkle in her eye,

She met adventures with a humor
that no one could deny.

And meeting challenges with courage, she never walked alone, Her precious Jesus walked beside her,

calling her His own.

“I love You and You love me,”
she’d say to Him each day –

May Jesus live within our hearts

in just this simple way.

The following are some testimonials from our Sisters, relatives and friends who remember with affection Sr. Anita McArdle:

Today, a friend for over 70 yeas has gone to our Loving God! Anita, you will be missed – your laughter, friendship, understanding and Irish dancing! I pray I will join you soon in heaven and our friendship will continue. Sr. Mary Maloney, Sfp

Sister Anita was so good to so many of our Sisters walking their last journey that I just know the Lord will be good to her. I can’t help but wonder if many of those same Sisters will be celebrating their famous East Coast St Patrick’s Day with her. I wonder if she’ll make her famous Irish Soda Bread for them up there…we shall miss her here below but we can’t be selfish as it is their turn to have her now. I remember Sisters Anita, Rita Kerr, Maristella, Rita Delaney and others arm in arm trying to do the Irish Jig together… it will no doubt be much easier for them to do that in their glorified bodies me thinks…Ah, Anita, go enjoy your newly found freedoms again! I’ll miss you but I’m happy you have been set free again. Sr. Betty Igo, Sfp

Sr Anita was authentically kind and caring in all that she was about in community and ministry. She was always participative and contributing to the life flow of the Congregation, knowing how to self sacrifice for the common good. A thank you was always on her lips. Sr. Marilyn Trowbridge, Sfp

Sr. Anita was a very loving, caring and human person. During her time as Administrator at Mount Alverno the staff said that she had a genuine care for each resident and worker. Sr. Mary Veronica Donohue, Sfp

I met Sr. Anita for the first time in Warwick, New York when I was a novice more than twenty years ago. I mostly remember her during the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day when all the sisters in NY and NJ gathered for this day when she brought her famous Irish soda bread – with caraway seeds. For her, Irish soda bread without caraway seeds is like a sacrilege. She always made enough for sisters to take home to Brooklyn, Hoboken ad the Bronx. During these occasions, I saw the sisters dance the Irish jig and she would be one of them.
     When I came back to the US in December of 2018 after nine years of mission work in the Philippines, I was so surprised to see how Sr. Anita had changed. She is with the elderly sisters at the Magnificat Unit. She did not recognize me at all. Having been assigned to the Magnificat community, I had the opportunity to get to know the sisters residing there including Sr. Anita.
     Before the restricted Covid quarantine, I used to go see the sisters. Sr. Anita usually walked down the hall, or sitting by the dining room or on her couch. I rubbed her back which she loved and would let me know where to massage her. Once, I asked her what is my name and she said with her full voice, “loving touch” and that how I came to be known to her – because I rubbed her back and while doing so, I tell her this is “loving touch”. Whenever she could, she would join us for community prayer or pray the rosary with us.
     Sr. Anita, as I came to know later, is such a loving person – she loved to hug and be hugged. When I gave her communion, she would reach out for my face and gave me a hug. One of her favourite food is chocolate. If you asked her if she would like some chocolate, she would say “I want my chocolate now, now, now.” She also like toasted English muffin with peanut butter and she would lick the peanut butter out of her fingers. She has a very sweet voice and we used to sing together “Salve Regina” and “ O, Sacred Heart” which I sang to her on Saturday night before she passed away.
      It has been our practice at Magnifcat to pray for a deceased sister with a little shrine by the Blessed Sacrament. Last Monday afternoon, for our community prayer, I prepared the Common of the Dead in her memory. I wanted to play the Prayer of St. Francis as our concluding prayer. I looked for the CD of Susan Boyle for this particular purpose but could not find it. I finally went into another shelf where the Christmas songs are kept, and on the third CD, I found another CD of Susan Boyle – and when I looked at the last song – it was “You Raise Me Up”. I could not believe it (the truth is I had ‘goose bumps”) and I said to myself – Sr. Anita – you are here! When I played this song for her, she wanted to hear it over and over again – until she was able to follow the melody and started to hum. The last part verse of the song goes: “There is no life – no life without struggles. This precious life is so imperfectly. But when you die, and die filled with wonder, it’s time like this to see eternity.”
       Yes, dear Sr. Anita, you struggled with failing memory and visual impairment these past years, but I know deeply, that when you touched the San Damiano Cross on your way to the dining room and whispered “I love you, Jesus” and when I saw you, with your head bowed down and hands embracing the Blessed Sacrament in the Magnificat chapel in the evening, Jesus must have said to you, “I love you, too, Anita”. Dear Sr. Anita, you are now in the bosom of your faithful bridegroom – pray for us and rest in peace and thank you for sharing your precious life with us. Sr. Armida Sison, Sfp

Sr. Anita taught me so much. How to give and never want anything in return. The smile on someone face would be your thanks. All the times I would hold her hand at the doctors. To make it easier. We would stop on the way home for coffee and muffins at Duncan Donuts. She said it would take away the pain. Her heart was bigger than any one I know. – Former SFP Employee, Georgette Storms

Sr. Anita was an amazing lady, may she Rest In Peace. She’ll be organizing a great party with all her fellow Sisters upstairs. – Former SFP Employee, Jane Belmont
I am so very, very sorry to read this news. I loved Sister Anita so much. I worked at Mt Alverno for 6 years and the nuns were very special to me. I was heartbroken when they moved to Ohio. I think of Sister Anita so often and I was heartbroken to read this. She is in Jesus’ arms now. Her smile will stay with me forever. Former SFP Employee, Carol Ellsworth

It’s difficult to convey the deep love we have for our aunt, Sr. Anita. She knew how we felt about her, how much we loved her — and she loved us back. No doubt about it. We looked forward to her visits for the holidays and staying over with us. Always had a lot of laughs and good times.
She was always there in our times of need — good times and bad She made arrangements for funeral masses, whatever was needed. She was one of a kind. We were very lucky to have her as our beautiful aunt. Her smile lives on in our memories forever.
Jim & Tivie O’Connell, relatives of Sr. Anita

As I was making Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick’s day, I was thinking about Sr. Anita. She taught Eileen, Tivie and I how to make it. One day we were all together and we were saying to her, all the years we have made this, it never comes out the same as yours. We went over every detail of the recipe and the process and couldn’t figure it out. Finally Sr. Anita said: well you have to bake it in an iron frying pan ya’know. We all said What ?? You never told us that! She gave that little giggle she always had and said well sure! Sr. Anita was the true Matriarch of the family. She was always there for all of us. At Christmas she would often spend time on Christmas Eve with part of the family and then travel on Christmas day to be with another part of the family. She was interested in all her Nieces and Nephews and was part of every family celebration. She will be missed. Bonnie OConnell, relative of Sr. Anita