Marlborough – Sister Grace Piracci died Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015 at St. Patrick’s Manor after a long illness. She was 98 years of age and had been a Sister of the Good Shepherd for 70 years.
Sister Grace was born in 1917 in Providence, R.I., the daughter of Vincenzo and Maria (Gautieri) Piracci. In 1945, she entered the Contemplative Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Baltimore, Md., and for 21 years Sister was engaged in the mission of the community to work and pray for the Good Shepherd ministry.
During her years in Baltimore, she developed and perfected her great talent for producing exquisite hand sewing. In 1961, Sister transferred to the New York Province and was missioned to Troy, N.Y. where she continued her handwork and also served in the altar bread department, baking altar breads for the parishes in the Troy and Albany area. Sister was missioned to Springfield in 1966 and spent the next 36 years in the service of the community as an expert seamstress.
After the closing of the Springfield community in 1999, Sister went to Dix Hills, N.Y. In 2001, Sister Grace retired to Good Shepherd Center in Marlborough and continued her lovely handwork, especially her much sought-after baby sets.
Sister was a woman of prayer and was faithful to her ministry of prayer, especially for the needs of the Good Shepherd mission. When Sister Grace’s health failed, she was missioned to St. Patrick’s Manor, a nursing facility in Framingham. Sister was a woman of deep faith and her gentle manner endeared her to both staff and residents.
Sister Grace leaves her niece, Margie D’Alesandrio of Baltimore, Md., and a faithful cousin, John Gautieri of Philadelphia, Pa.
Visiting hours will be held Thursday, Oct. 22, from 4-8 p.m., at Good Shepherd Center, 406 Hemenway St., Marlborough, with a prayer service at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered for Sister Grace Friday, Oct. 23, at 10 a.m., at Good Shepherd Center. Burial will be at Mt. Benedict Cemetery in West Roxbury. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Fitzgerald & Collins Funeral Home f Marlborough (www.collinsfuneral.com).
Expressions of sympathy in Sister Grace Piracci’s memory may be made to the Good Shepherd Retirement Fund, 406 Hemenway St., Marlborough, MA 01752.
The Sisters of the Good Shepherd were founded by St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier in Angers, France in 1835, in the United States (Louisville, KYy.) in 1843, and in Boston in 1867.
