MARLBOROUGH - Sister Nancy Johnson, Sister of the Good Shepherd, Contemplative, died Friday, March 18,, 2011, at Marie Esther Healthcare Center in Marlborough after a long illness. She was 95 years of age and had been a Sister of the Good Shepherd for 75 years. A native of Norwich, Conn., Sister Nancy was the daughter of the late William and Nellie (Connell) Johnson. In 1936, she entered the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Contemplative in Hartford, Conn., a community with a lifestyle where the Sisters pray for all the needs of the world, especially those persons served by the Good Shepherd Congregation. She professed her First Vows July 22, 1939. Sister Nancy was assigned to serve the community in the Altar Bread Department. In 1972, she was missioned to Peekskill, N.Y., and in 1986 the community moved to Trenton, N.J., where she continued to work in the Altar Bread Department. Due to failing health, in 1997, Sister Nancy was missioned to Good Shepherd Center in Marlborough. Sister Nancy is survived by her sister, Mrs. Sarah Austin, and many nieces and nephews.
Visiting hours will be held Monday, March 21, from 4 to 8 p.m., at Good Shepherd Center, 406 Hemenway Street, Marlborough, with a prayer service at 7 p.m. A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated Tuesday, March 22, at 10 a.m., at Good Shepherd Center Chapel in Marlborough. Burial will follow in Mount Benedict Cemetery, West Roxbury. Expressions of sympathy in Sister Nancy's memory may be made to the Good Shepherd Retirement Fund, 406 Hemenway Street, Marlborough, MA 01752. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Fitzgerald & Collins Funeral Home (www.CollinsFuneral.com), 378 Lincoln Street, Marlborough.
Sisters of the Good Shepherd, a worldwide Congregation, were founded in France by St. Mary Euphrasia in 1935. They came to Boston in 1867, to Marlborough in 1964 and to Harwich in 1993.