Posted April 19, 2023

Sister Justina Marie Miller, OSF, 92, died in Assisi House on Thursday, April 6, 2023. She had been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for 74 years.

Sister Justina was born Marie Elizabeth Miller in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in the Diocese of Harrisburg, where she was a member of St. Gertrude Parish and a graduate of Lebanon Catholic High School. She entered the congregation in 1947 and professed her first vows in 1949.

Sister Justina earned a BS in elementary education from Villanova University and an MA in elementary education and supervision from The Catholic University of America. She ministered primarily in education.

Sister Justina ministered for 21 years in the Diocese of Harrisburg in York, Pennsylvania, where she taught at St. Mary School for one year and taught and was later principal of St. Joseph School for 20 years.

For 33 years, Sister Justina served in the Diocese of Trenton in education ministry.  She taught for one year at Immaculate Conception School, Trenton, and then served as principal at Corpus Christi School, Willingboro for 10 years, and St. Mary of the Lakes School, Medford for 22 years.

In her later years, Sister Justina ministered in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for 13 years as a volunteer/tutor at Neumann University. In 2018 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 service includes one year in the Diocese of Spokane at St. Joseph Family Center where she served as a volunteer.

Services were held in Assisi House on Wednesday, April 12. A Christian Wake Service was held followed by viewing. Burial is in Our Lady of Angels Cemetery in Aston.

Sister Justina is survived by her sisters, Louise Kreiser, Irene McKenzie, Justina Burkholder, and Cecilia Rumpf; her sister-in-laws, Patricia and Susan Miller; her nieces and nephews; and her Franciscan family.