Former assistant principal of St. Pius X High School and mentor to five principals, Sister Rita Marie Raffaele is still influencing the lives of students and teachers as she celebrates 50 years as a Grey Nun of the Sacred Heart.

In a three-day celebration, family and friends joined Sister Rita Marie in commemorating her golden jubilee. A children’s liturgy on April 23, an April 24 presentation by students, faculty and staff of St. John Neumann School in Lilburn where she presently is assistant principal, and a Mass of Thanksgiving on April 25, highlighted activities.

Sister Rita Marie has spent the last 25 years as a Religious in the archdiocese of Atlanta. Nineteen of those years were at St. Pius, first as chair of the Social Studies department and then as assistant principal. In 1986 she joined the administration of the new St. John Neumann School.

The daughter of the late John and Gemma Raffaele, Sister Rita Marie was born and raised in the Philadelphia area. She has three sisters and 10 nieces and nephews. She attended Catholic elementary and secondary schools before entering the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart at age 16. She attended D’Youville College in Buffalo and Catholic University in Washington, D.C. In addition to her work in the Atlanta archdiocese, she was involved in education in the dioceses of Philadelphia and Buffalo.

Father Richard Lopez celebrated the Mass of Thanksgiving. Present were Father James Fennessy, Father Tony Curran, Father Al Dillmann, Father Charles Kerscher, and Father James Sexstone. Sister Jean Liston, Mother General of the Grey Nuns, was on hand for the celebration, as were Sister Rita Marie’s two sisters, nieces and nephews and other family members.