Sister Ann Carville, leader of Sisters of St. Francis, dies at 77

Sister Ann Carville, a longtime leader of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities who shepherded their mission to serve the poor, elderly and sick, died on Feb. 3, 2018.

She was 77. An obituary on the D'Alessandro Funeral Home website did not list a cause of death.

“Sister Ann's gift of service to her sisters, to Franciscans and to religious orders addressing the challenges of funding retirement is no less than extraordinary,” said Sister Bernadette Schaad, minister, Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities. “A life-long learner, she was driven to achieve excellence, and what she achieved, she shared with others. A true servant leader, Sister Ann was a woman of vision and compassion. She will be remembered fondly by all whose lives she touched.”

In one of her most visible roles, Carville served as superior general for her congregation from 2001 to 2007, when it was known as Sisters of St. Francis of Millvale. The congregation became part of Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities in 2007.

Carville became the face of the congregation when the sisters were forced to sell St. Francis Medical Center in Lawrenceville, which they built in 1865. St. Francis, Pittsburgh's first Catholic hospital, was shuttered in 2002 after it was sold to UPMC. It was located in what is today Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC.

While the hospital's closure marked a challenging time for the religious order, Carville never lost hope and instead focused her energy on other key projects.

“When one avenue closes, another one opens. We have a future filled with hope,” she told the Trib in 2002.

Carville, a Johnstown native, entered the community on Sept. 8, 1958, and began her ministry teaching elementary school children in the Diocese of Pittsburgh for 14 years.

She earned a doctorate degree in philosophy, human and organizational development from The Fielding Institute in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Carville lived on the congregation's Mt. Alvernia campus in Millvale, which was put up for sale in 2017. There are 78 sisters in the Western Pennsylvania region.

The Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities is a congregation of 376 women whose origin goes back to St. Francis Assisi in the 13th century.

Visitation will be at the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities, 146 Hawthorne Road, Pittsburgh on Monday, Feb. 5 from 2 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. and Tuesday, Feb. 6 from to 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the Sisters of St. Francis on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2018 at 10 a.m. Burial will follow in Sister's Cemetery at Mt. Alvernia.