Sr. Aletha of Jesus, OCD (Aletha Elizabeth Maher) of the Carmelite Monastery in Beacon, New York peacefully passed away on Monday, December 18 at Ferncliff Nursing Home in Rhinebeck.

Aletha was born in Floral Park, New York on May 12, 1938 the oldest of three children of John and Vivian (Goodman) Maher.

Sister Aletha graduated from St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing in Manhattan in May 1959. On January 24, 1960 she entered the Carmelite Monastery in the Bronx and on September 1, 1961 made her profession of vows as a Carmelite Nun.

In February of 1982, Sister and the entire Bronx community relocated to Beacon where she reveled in the beauty and wild life surrounding our Monastery!

As a registered nurse, Sr. Aletha found many ways to use her medical skills and was a gentle and proficient care-giver for many of the sisters (as well as for the many small birds that came her way!)  In addition to her untiring nursing care, Sister generously served the community in many ways including maintenance of the monastery. In later years, Aletha found great pleasure entering and working in the new world of computers, becoming our “go to” person for any technical problems we encountered.
 

Sensing she had Alzheimer’s, Sister accepted her diagnosis with extraordinary peace, faith and courage. When she became a resident at the Memory Care Center at Ferncliff, her peaceful presence and concern for others were remarkable. She maintained her calm, accepting spirit to the end of her life.

A warm, compassionate and outgoing person, Aletha was attentive to each person who entered her life, readily making friends by whom she is remembered with much fondness and gratitude.

Sister Aletha is survived by her sister Ann Hosek and brother John Maher of Long Island and by many nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews whom she dearly loved.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated in the Monastery Chapel by Fr. Jim Hess, O.Carm., on January 3, 2024.