Sr. Elise Rivest, SSA

Sr. Elise Rivest, 100, a Sister of St. Anne, died February 8 at Marie Esther Health Center in this city. Born in St. Ignace du Lac (Quebec), she was the 3rd child, in a family of eight born to Stanislas and Lea (Prud’homme) Rivest. The family moved to Cohoes, New York in 1927.  A graduate of the former St. Anne Academy in this city, she earned a BA in Education from Catholic Teachers College in Providence, RI and held lifetime certification in teaching in Massachusetts and in Rhode Island.

She joined the Sisters of St. Anne in Lachine, Quebec in 1936, professed vows in 1938 and began a career in education that spanned the next fifty seven years.  During those years, she taught, or was principal in schools staffed by the Sisters of St. Anne in Holyoke, North Adams, Worcester, Easthampton, and Newton in Massachusetts and in Central Falls, and Manville in Rhode Island.  She also served as Coordinator of Sisters in Manville, RI and in Easthampton, MA.  Towards the end of her long and successful career, she also was a school librarian and provided community service to the Sisters in her local convent.  She retired in 2001 and became an aide at St. Anne Convent in Marlboro.

Sister Elise was predeceased by her parents, her brothers, Joseph, Marcel, Paul and Olivier Rivest and two sisters, Sr. M. Rose Agnes, SSA (Marie Rose Rivest) and Marie Ange Thouin.  She leaves to grieve her sister, Cecile Rivest of Marlboro, many nieces and nephews, other extended family and her religious family, the Sisters of St. Anne.

Viewing will be from 9 am to 10:15 am on Monday, February 12 at St. Anne Convent, 720 Boston Post Road East, Marlboro, MA. A Funeral liturgy will follow at 10:30 am in the convent chapel. Burial will follow in Evergreen Cemetery, Marlborough.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Fitzgerald & Collins Funeral Home, (www.CollinsFuneral.com), 378 Lincoln St., Marlborough.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial contribution may be made to the Sisters of St. Anne Retirement Fund, 720 Boston Post Road East, Marlboro, MA 01752, or to a charity of your choice.