Sister Edith C. Gonzalez

Age 69, died March 15, 2013, at St. James Convent, Miami, surrounded by her religious Sisters and her brother, Edward and sister, Ethel, under the care of Catholic Hospice.

Edith was born September 20, 1943 in Key West, Florida and moved to Miami as a teen-ager. She graduated from Immaculata Academy, Miami. In 1965, Edith received her B.A. from the University of Miami and in 1968, her M.S. in Special Education from Barry College.

In 1968 Edith entered the Sisters of St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo, an Italian congregation of religious women who serve the developmentally challenged at Marian Center School in Miami professing vows in 1975. She served in education of developmentally challenged persons and as Administrator of the Refugee Program in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, until 1984.

In 1984 Sister Edith requested transfer to the Sisters of St. Joseph, a Florida religious congregation whom she had known from her youth. As a Sister of St. Joseph, Sister Edith taught at St. Mary’s Cathedral School, Miami; served as administrator/director of the Cathedral Parish Early Education Center, St. Augustine and as principal of St. Stephen School in Miramar.

In 1993 Sister Edith began Clinical Pastoral Education studies at Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas. Upon return to Miami in 1995, she spent many years in Pastoral Care at Mercy Hospital, Miami, was promoted to Director of Pastoral Care and later, to Vice President of Mission Integration. Sister served as Vice President until her resignation in June, 2012, necessitated by her advanced cancer.

From 2002 to 2010, Sister Edith served the Sisters of St. Joseph as a member of General Governance (Councilor) while continuing her ministry as Vice-President of Mission Integration at Mercy Hospital. Sister served on the Boards of Mercy Hospital, SSJ Health Foundation, and as chair of Mercy Mission Services, which operates San Juan Bosco Clinic a free clinic for persons otherwise without access to health care.

Whether walking the halls of the school or the hospital or the dirt roads of Guatemala, it was Sister’s total reliance on Divine Providence and her love for Christ that impelled her to faithful service.

Sister Edith is survived by her sister, Ethel G. Dunn, her brother Edward Gonzalez, her cousin, Glenn Watkins, nieces Pauline Gonzalez, Vanessa Dunn, Melissa (Cabezas) and her husband, Rolando Cabezas and their daughter, Lola Isabel.

A wake will be held from 5pm to 8pm on Monday, March 18, at Memorial Plan Kendall, 7355 SW 117th Avenue, Miami. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St John Neumann Catholic Church, 12125 SW 107th Avenue, Miami, on the feast of St Joseph, Tuesday, March 19, at 1:00 pm. Burial will be in San Lorenzo Cemetery in St. Augustine, FL, on Thursday, March 21, following Mass at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Joseph.

In lieu of flowers, donations to San Juan Bosco Clinic

San Juan Bosco Clinic, 3661 South Miami Avenue, Suite 103, Miami, FL 33133