She touched people of Sidney through quiet devotion, service

By PAUL QUIRINI- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Sister Rosina Pondolfino, RSM, spent most of her 60 years as a Sister of Mercy in the Sidney area, where she has done everything from catechetical instruction to bringing communion to the homebound.

After suffering a stroke last July, Sister Rosina hasn't been as involved in active ministry and no longer lives in her apartment near Sacred Heart Church. But that doesn't mean she has moved far away or stopped performing acts of kindness for those in the Sidney community.

She now lives with a friend, Susan, in Bainbridge, a 10-minute drive from Sidney, and visits elderly hospital patients and adult home residents each week.

Ecumenical approach

Her approach to ministry is that it doesn't matter whether someone is Catholic or not; she's happy to help those in need regardless of their religious beliefs.

"That's what I love about my work. The people I visit don't have to be Catholic. They can all be God's people," she told The Evangelist.

Sister Rosina, born in 1921 in Oneonta, was the youngest of seven children. She attended St. Mary's School and Oneonta High School, and in 1939 began her novitiate with the Sisters of Mercy in Albany. Her brother Joe, who thought she could be an opera singer, wanted to bring her to the Metropolitan Opera in New York City for a try-out. The Sisters of Mercy won. But she didn't abandon her musical talent. While preparing for sisterhood, Sister Rosina attended The College of Saint Rose and earned a degree in music. Her instrument of choice was the violin.

Life of nun

After she became a Sister of Mercy in 1945, she taught at several schools in the Albany Diocese, including St. Patrick's and Sacred Heart in Watervliet, St. Teresa of Avila and St. Joseph's in Albany, and St. Mary's in Ballston Spa.

In 1965, Sister Rosina came to Sidney and taught catechetical instruction in such outlying missions as Sidney Center, Mount Upton, Maconville, Unadilla and Otego. Sister Rosina taught in funeral parlors, Grange halls and homes in the morning, afternoon and evening. And keeping her hand in music, she also was in charge of Sacred Heart's choir.

She returned to Oneonta in 1970 when her mother suffered a heart attack and needed care. While taking care of her mother, Sister Rosina found time to teach at St. Mary's School and to lead the adult choir for St. Mary's Church.

Years of effort

She returned to Sidney in 1975 to be a Eucharistic minister to the homebound. Parishioners of Sacred Heart weren't the only ones who she'd visit; those from other parishes and even non-Catholics got to chat with Sister Rosina in her ministry.

She still was visiting the homebound and bringing them communion when she suffered a stroke last July. As she recovered and went to therapy, she lived with Susan, whom she had met as a high school student 30 years earlier. Susan's parents were separated at that time, and Sister Rosina became friends with the teenager and helped her deal with her family troubles.

The two had remained friends over the years and spent holidays together, so Susan let Sister Rosina stay with her as she recovered.

Keeping on

The Sisters of Mercy wanted Sister Rosina to join them at their Motherhouse in Albany and spend her retirement, but she preferred to stay in Sidney, according to Sister Peg Sullivan, a member of the Sisters of Mercy's Leadership Team.

"She is a member of our community. We would love to have her back in Albany," Sister Peg said. "She has specifically asked to remain down there and live with Susan. She certainly has earned the right to retire."

When the Knights of Columbus hosted a retirement party for Sister Rosina last December, many people from the parish and community attended, including one homebound guest who hadn't been out of her home in years but wanted to wish Sister Rosina well in her retirement.

Big loss

Gene Walsh, who has been a parishioner since 1976, said the loss of Sister Rosina from active ministry is difficult because she knew so many people in the parish and the Sidney area.

"Sister's been an asset to the community for a number of years. It's a big loss to the parish," he said. "She was a dedicated nun, and it's a big loss to the community, not just Sidney."

Her tireless work on behalf of the elderly and infirm, and her ecumenical approach to ministry make her almost irreplaceable, but the parish is trying to carry on her work with lay Eucharistic ministers.

Link to community

Rev. Joseph Schuck, who has been assisting with weekend Masses at Sacred Heart since 1976, said that Sister Rosina provided an important link between the parish and people in the outlying areas. Traveling so much in Delaware County and parts of other counties made her very familiar with that section of the Albany Diocese.

"Usually, if you wanted to know where somebody lived, you'd ask Sister Rosina. She was a pretty good directory," he said.

Her retirement party brought out many local officials who knew her even though they were not Catholic, Father Schuck said. "When the mayor, and town and county officials are all there to meet her, that means something," he said.

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