Posted May 1, 2023

Sister Mary Patricia Johnson, OSF (formerly Sister Mary Amata), 88, died in Assisi House on Monday, May 8, 2023. She had been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for 58 years.

Sister Mary Pat was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she was a member of St. Barnabas Parish and a graduate of West Catholic High School. She entered the congregation in 1962 and professed her first vows in 1965. She earned a BA in English from Neumann University (then Our Lady of Angels College). She ministered primarily in education, administration, and parish ministry.

Sister Mary Pat ministered for 55 years in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. After completing her education, Sister Mary Pat went on to teach at St. John Neumann School in Bryn Mawr and St. Benedict School and Little Flower High School in Philadelphia. Next, she served as the provincial administrator at the St. Anthony Provincial Residence in Springfield for nine years. She then shifted gears and began working in parish ministry at St. Francis Parish and Epiphany Parish in Philadelphia. After that, she served as coordinator of the assisted living program at St. Agnes Medical Center in Philadelphia for three years. Additional ministry in the diocese included serving as the assistant to the director at the Franciscan Spiritual Center, as a volunteer for the congregation’s foundation office, as a clerical assistant at Neumann University, and as a volunteer at Assisi House, all in Aston. In 2008 she moved to Assisi House, the congregation’s retirement residence in Aston, where she served in prayer and hospitality ministry until her death.

Sister Mary Pat served for three years in the Allentown Diocese, where she taught at Central Catholic High School. She also spent one year in the Wilmington Diocese as a volunteer coordinator of liturgy at Salesianum School in Wilmington.

All services will be held in Assisi House on Thursday, May 11, and will be livestreamed. A Christian Wake Service will be held at 9:30 A.M. followed by viewing. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11 A.M. Burial will be in Our Lady of Angels Cemetery in Aston. Sister Mary Pat is survived by her cousins and by her Franciscan family. Donations in her name can be made to the Sisters of St. Francis Foundation, 609 S. Convent Road, Aston, PA 19014.