A funeral Mass was offered Sept. 10 for School Sister of Notre Dame Maria Natividad Aponte at Villa Assumpta in Towson. She died Sept. 2 at 99 after serving more than 70 years in Maryland, Pennsylvania and her native Puerto Rico.
Ana Luisa Aponte was born into a family of six Feb. 22, 1925, in Barranquitas, Puerto Rico. She worked as a seamstress and made rugs in her early 20s before preparing to enter the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
She received the candidate’s bonnet Oct. 7, 1951. After completing her candidature and postulancy in Baltimore, she became Novice Maria Natividad July 10, 1954 and professed her first vows Aug. 1, 1955.
For 70 years, Sister Natividad served the S.S.N.D. mission in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Puerto Rico. Her ministries took various forms, including serving at an orphanage and as a nurse’s aide in addition to many roles in community service and in pastoral ministry.
In Maryland, Sister Natividad’s ministry included serving at the S.S.N.D.’s Baltimore Motherhouse on Charles Street (1966-68) and at Villa Maria retirement home (1968-75 and 1978-84). She completed her ministry at Maria Health Care Center, Villa Assumpta and Rosary Community on Charles Street (1986-2024).
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