Dominican Sister Ruth Angelette dies at 87

Dominican Sister of Peace Sister Ruth Angelette, who served for 42 years as principal of St. Anthony of Padua School on Canal Street, died Sept. 9 at the Metairie home of her niece, Geral Anne Farmer.

Sister Ruth, 87, won the Distinguished Principals’ Award from the National Catholic Educational Association in 1987.

Her final year as St. Anthony of Padua principal was in 2016. The following year, the Canal Street campus became part of Christian Brothers School, offering instruction to boys and girls in grades pre-K4 through 4.

Sister Ruth was a senior at St. Mary’s Dominican High School when a nun asked if she would go to Rosaryville to discern if she had a vocation to religious life.

“I didn’t want to think about it,” Sister Ruth said. “I basically ignored her, but that little voice stayed there. I figured in eighth grade someone had invited me, and now they were telling me (the same thing), so I’d better go see.

“I thought there was something that I needed to do with my life that would be God’s will, and (the sisterhood) is what he wanted for me.”

Sister Ruth entered the Congregation of St. Mary’s Dominican Sisters in 1955. She earned her B.A. in elementary education from St. Mary’s Dominican College and master’s in education administration from Marquette University.

She served on the leadership council for her congregation and was the founding principal for St. Clare’s School in Waveland, Mississippi.

After her tenure as principal of St. Anthony, she directed the parish’s preschool program.
She also taught at Our Lady of Lourdes in New Orleans; St. Mary’s in Cottonport; and Holy Ghost in Hammond.

“One alumna told me, ‘Sister, you have no idea what you meant to me in my life,’ and that’s true,” she said in 2016. “You don’t have any idea of the impact that you have. But that’s not why you do it. You do it because it’s right, and you do it for the love of God.”

Sister Ruth was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph T. and Ruth Rear Angelette, her brothers Joseph H. and Edward P. along with her sisters Ruth A. Cernich and Helene A. Metzger.
She is survived by many nieces and nephews and a dear friend, Nell Mechana, along with many other close friends.

A wake will be held Oct. 2 at 1 p.m. at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 4640 Canal St., New Orleans. A Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 4:30 p.m. She will be buried at the Dominican Sisters Cemetery at Rosaryville in Ponchatoula at a later date.

Memorial gifts may be sent to the Dominican Sisters of Peace, Office of Mission Advancement, 2320 Airport Drive, Columbus, OH 43219, or submitted at oppeace.org.