Posted March 25, 2025

Sister Jean Margaret McDevitt, OSF, 80, died in Assisi House on Friday, March 21, 2025. She had been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for 59 years. Sister Jean Margaret was born Margaret Mary McDevitt in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was a member of St. Benedict’s in Philadelphia and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Doylestown. She was a graduate of Lansdale Catholic High School. Sister Jean entered the congregation in 1963 and professed her first vows in 1966. She earned a bachelors in English from Neumann University (then Our Lady of Angels College) and an MA in English from Boston College. She ministered primarily in education and healthcare administration.

Sister Jean Margaret ministered for 46 years in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. She began teaching at St. Ignatius School, Yardley; St. Ludwig School, Philadelphia; Cardinal O’Hara High School, Springfield; and Lansdale Catholic High School, Lansdale. She ministered for six years in the communications office for her congregation. She then switched focus and served as vice president of planning and mission effectiveness at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne and as administrator of Assisi House for a total of 11 years.  In 2009, Sister Jean Margaret moved to Assisi House, the congregation’s retirement home in Aston, where she served in prayer and hospitality ministry until her death.

Additional ministry includes serving as vice president of mission and ministry at St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware, for four years.

All services will be held in Assisi House on Tuesday, March 25, 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 Jean Margaret is survived by her brother, William, her nieces, 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.