April 2, 1939 — October 31, 2025
Sister Mary Roseann, the former Joan Godel, a member of the Felician Sisters of Our Lady of Hope Province, died at Immaculate Heart of Mary Convent in Buffalo, New York, on Friday, October 31, 2025, after a brief illness. Sister Mary Roseann was 86 years old and a Felician Sister for 66 years. Joan was born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, and was one of seven children born to Louis and Antoinette Betz Godel. Her parents were devout Catholics, and the family attended St. Joseph Parish in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. Joan attended McKinley Public School and then went on to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Academy, which was staffed by the Felician Sisters. Prior to entering high school, Joan felt an attraction to being a sister, and it was during her high school years at the academy that her call was intensified as she observed the Felician Sisters and was attracted to their way of life.
Responding to her desire to live the Felician life, she requested entrance to the postulancy and was admitted on August 15, 1957. The following year, she was invested in the habit of the Felician Sisters and received the name Sister Mary Roseann. On August 22, 1959, she made her first profession, sealing that commitment for the rest of her life at her final profession six years later.
In discerning her ministry for the Church and the Congregation, Sister Mary Roseann was certain that she wanted to serve in the internal works of the Congregation and declined going on to college and higher education. Raised as a child with a strong work ethic for service, she expressed herself as wanting to serve in culinary arts and laundry, a ministry that she delighted in for more than 60 years. In addition, as a lover of the outdoors, she enjoyed working in the garden and beautifying the surrounding areas with flowers. When the convent was being renovated at the turn of the millennium, with a focus on “green” since the community was deeply rooted in the Franciscan Charism, which values care for the earth, Sister Roseann made a personal commitment to living those values. She wrote, “I see myself living that out in a conscious way by doing the floral landscaping of our grounds . . . I also have under my supervision a bio-shelter where I grow plants, herbs, and vegetables for the community and a vermicomposting bin which provides mulch for our grounds.”
As a community member, Sister Mary Roseann was kind and welcoming to all, whether they were sisters, staff members, nursing personnel, or visitors. She loved to tell stories about her early years at home and enjoyed sharing and reminiscing with the sisters. She was very creative and made many crafts, organized a craft show twice a year and gave the proceeds for the sisters’ retirement fund or to some charity. Sister Roseann would willingly help others in anyway that she was able. Her religious life held top priority for her and is evident in her writings when she stated: “I value the precious moments that I have before the Eucharist at Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as a welcomed pause during my busy days.”
Gradually, as her health declined, she moved to the care center, and in 2018, when the care center in Coraopolis closed, she was transferred to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Convent in Buffalo, New York. This move was most challenging for sister given that she lived her entire life in Coraopolis, but being the good religious that she was and committed to her vow of obedience, she acquiesced to God’s will for her.
Sister Mary Roseann spent the last seven years of her life in Buffalo, during which time she endeared herself to both the sisters and the staff, as well as to all with whom she came into contact throughout her day. She lost no time in being of service, sharing gardening and cooking tips with everyone. She crocheted towels, scarves, blankets, and donated these items to raffles and as gifts for volunteers and donors. Sister Roseann contributed to the missions by accepting payment for some of her work and would then turn around and donate the proceeds to one of her favorite charities, such as Our Lady’s Food Pantry at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart High School, her alma mater.
She was a member of the Laudato Si Committee and was influential in changing from plastic to paper pill containers out of respect for the environment. In addition, she served on the Food Committee, falling back on her own culinary skills and experience.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she engaged in telephone ministry, keeping in touch with the elderly she had met through the Pace Program. Most of all, Sister Roseann was kind and loving. There seemed to have been something special between Sister and anyone she encountered in her day.
Due to declining health, she was hospitalized several times until her last time in the hospital and rehabilitation center took her away from the convent for approximately one month.
When Sister Roseann returned home a week prior to her death, she was bedridden, ate very little, and hardly spoke. The sisters began keeping vigil with her in her last days, and she was quiet and peaceful. One would believe that she was pondering when she would meet Jesus face to face, for she had no fear of dying. Death came very peacefully on early Friday morning, October 31st, when the morning staff had turned her and she took her final breath.
Sister Mary Roseann was preceded in death by her parents, Louis and Antoinette Godel, her two brothers, Philip and Louis Godel, and her sister, Kathleen Hessert. She is survived by her brother, James Godel, and two sisters, Mary Lou Ridenour and Susan Wozniak, as well as nieces and nephews.
Sister Mary Roseann was waked at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel on Wednesday, November 5th, and then returned to Coraopolis. Family and friends were received at Sanvito Funeral Home on Friday, where a Sharing of Memories was held at 7:00 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Saturday, November 8 at 10:30 a.m., in the Convent Chapel. Rev. Sam Esposito, chaplain, was the principal celebrant, after which Sister Mary Roseann was buried in the Felician Cemetery on the convent property. There she joins the many sisters who have passed to their eternal reward.
Sister Mary Roseann, may the angels come to meet you and may Blessed Mary Angela whose life you modeled, lead you to paradise; may the saints come to greet you at your coming. Rest in God’s loving embrace, dear sister!
