Sister Joan Elias, leader in Catholic education, dies at 94

A funeral Mass for Grey Nun of the Sacred Heart Sister Joan Elias will be offered at 10 a.m. Feb. 7 at Redeemer Sisters’ Chapel in Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Sister Joan died Jan. 27. She was 94.

Born in Buffalo, N.Y., she entered the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart in 1950. She received her bachelor’s degree in English from D’Youville College and her master’s degree in education from SUNY Buffalo.

In the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Sister Joan served in administrative positions at Archbishop Keough School in Baltimore (1976-88) and The Seton Keough School in Baltimore (1988-97). 

From 1997 to 2005 she was principal of Resurrection-St. Paul School in Ellicott City. After retiring in 2005, she continued to volunteer as a consultant.

During her years in Baltimore, she was a member of the visiting team for the U.S. Department of Education Exemplary Schools Program; Archdiocese of Baltimore Strategic Planning Committee; Archdiocese of Baltimore Secondary Principals Collaborative Council; Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Visiting Teams; Committee for Review of Standardized Testing Program for the Archdiocese of Baltimore and Elementary Principals Collaborative Council.

She was awarded the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Doris Musil Award for Excellence in Catholic Educational Leadership (2003) and the Archdiocesan Medal of Honor (1987). 

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