Posted March 4, 2025

Sister Gloria Keltz, OSF, (formerly Sister Robert St. Joan), 95, died in Assisi House on Monday, March 3, 2025. She had been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for 75 years. Sister Gloria was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she was a member of St. Raphael Parish and a graduate of West Philadelphia Catholic High School.  She entered the congregation in 1948 and professed her first vows in 1950.  She earned a BS in English from Villanova University and an MA in Religious Education from LaSalle University.  She ministered primarily in education and parish ministry.

Sister Gloria ministered for 24 years in Puerto Rico, where she taught at El Convento de San Francisco in Barranquitas and Convento de Asis in Comerio. She also served in religious education at San Antonio de Padua and San Andres Apostol in Barranquitas while teaching at Seminario Pablo VI in Naranjito.

Sister Gloria ministered for 23 years in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, where she began teaching for three years at Immaculate Conception School in Marcus Hook.  She then served as the principal of St. Bonaventure School in Philadelphia for six years.  She served in local house ministry at Our Lady of Angels Convent in Aston for five years before moving to Assisi House, the congregation’s retirement community, in 2016 where she served in prayer and hospitality ministry until her death.

In her 17 years in the Allentown Diocese, Sister Gloria taught at St. Aloysius School, Pottstown; St. Bartholomew School, Brockton; St. Mary Magdalen School, Lost Creek; St. John the Baptist School, Whitehall; and Sacred Heart School in Allentown.

Additional ministry includes five years at St. Nicholas School in Egg Harbor, New Jersey, in the Camden Diocese, and two years at St. Katherine of Sienna School in Baltimore.

All services will be held in Assisi House on Thursday, March 6, 2025, 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 Gloria is survived by her many 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.