Joyce Ross

Ross RSM, Sister Joyce (Sister Mary Zita) died in St. Peter's Nursing and Rehabilitation Center Monday, June 19, 2017. She had been a Sister of Mercy for 66 years. Born in Albany, she was the daughter of the late Joseph V. Ross and Mildred Horick Ross. Sister Joyce earned a bachelor's degree from the College of St. Rose, Albany, and a master's degree from SUNY, Albany. For nineteen years she ministered as a teacher in schools in the Albany Diocese, including St. Agnes, Cohoes; St. Mary's, Clinton Heights; Annunciation, Ilion; Vincentian and Our Lady of Mercy, Albany; and St. Mary's, Gloversville. She also taught in the religious education program at Sacred Heart, Sidney. In 1972 Sister Joyce responded to a call to minister in St. Patrick's Parish, Anchorage, Alaska. Seven years later, she embraced what would become a thirty year adventure in ministry to the people of the parishes on the Kenai Peninsula. Initially her primary responsibility there was to coordinate the religious education program in each parish. In 1988, she was appointed Administrator of Our Lady of the Angels Parish in Kenai, a parish with no priest on staff. In the beginning a priest visited Kenai weekly to celebrate Mass. As time went on, those visits became less frequent, perhaps once or twice a month. In between, Sister Joyce led Communion Services on Sunday and offered countless other services to the parishioners, from infants to the elderly. She celebrated Baptisms and presided at funeral services; established outreach programs to the poor, the homebound and the imprisoned; coordinated religious education; offered Scripture study and opportunities for common prayer; and tackled all the tasks associated with the administration and smooth running of the parish. She accompanied teen volunteers on mission trips not only within Alaska but even to Mexico. She engaged the people of the parish to the fullest extent possible. Although she returned to Albany in 2009, Sister Joyce left a piece of her heart in Alaska. She believed that the greatest gift she gave the Kenai community was to empower them to take responsibility for ministry. Her goal was to leave behind a community who had a better sense of what it means to be church than they had when she arrived. Sister Joyce was blessed to have as a partner in ministry in Kenai Sister Joan Barina, MMS, a member of the Medical Mission Sisters. After the two returned to the Northeast, they co-authored a book, Our Journey with the Real Church: Faith in the Last Frontier, so that others might benefit from their experiencs. After "retiring", Sister Joyce continued to serve in the Albany area, tending to the spiritual needs of the hospitalized, homebound and nursing home residents. In addition to her parents, Sister Joyce was predeceased by her sister, Lorraine Macbeth and her brother, Joseph V. Ross Jr. She is survived by her nephews John Macbeth (Amy), Joseph Macbeth, and Mark Macbeth (Gosia) and nieces Joyce Stein (Daniel) and Heather Luke (Brian), seven grandnieces and three grandnephews as well as by her religious community, the Sisters of Mercy. Viewing hours will be from 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. Thursday, June 22, in the Chapel of the Convent of Mercy, 634 New Scotland Avenue, Albany. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Prayer Service of Remembrance in the Chapel at 7:00 p.m. The Liturgy of Christian Death and Burial will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. Friday, June 23, at the Convent of Mercy. Interment will follow in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, East Greenbush. The Sisters of Mercy are grateful to the staff of St. Peter's Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for the great tenderness with which they cared for our Sister. Contributions may be made in Sister Joyce's memory to the Sisters of Mercy, 634 New Scotland Avenue, Albany, New York 12208.