Posted March 20, 2023

Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, OSF (formerly Sister Paul Anthony), 81, died in Assisi House on Friday, March 17, 2023. She had been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for 61 years.

Sister Elizabeth (Betty) was born in Baltimore, Maryland, where she was a member of St. Elizabeth Parish and a graduate of The Catholic High School of Baltimore. She entered the congregation in 1959 and professed her first vows in 1962.

She earned a BA in English from Neumann University (then Our Lady of Angels College) and a MA in liturgical studies from the University of Notre Dame. She ministered primarily in elementary education and parish/pastoral ministry.

Sister Betty ministered for 26 years in the Archdiocese of Baltimore in various ministries. She taught at Immaculate Conception School and served as local minister at St. Joseph Hospital, both in Towson.

She also served as the congregational vocation director for the Southern Province and as a pastoral associate at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Baltimore.

In her 23 years in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Sister Betty served as director of evangelical life services for her congregation at Our Lady of Angels Convent in Aston for 15 years. She also volunteered for Canine Partners for Life in Cochranville for four years. In 2019 she moved to Assisi House, the congregation’s retirement residence in Aston, where she served in prayer and hospitality ministry until her death.

Additional ministry includes four years in the Diocese of Wilmington where she taught at Holy Angels School in Newark and served in pastoral care at St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington. In the Washington, D.C. Archdiocese, Sister Betty taught at Nativity of Our Lord Jesus School for six years.

All services were held in Assisi House on Thursday, March 23.

Sister Betty is survived by her sister, Sister Patricia Kane, her nieces and nephews, and her Franciscan family.

Donations in her name can be made to the Sisters of St. Francis Foundation, 609 S. Convent Road, Aston, PA 19014.