Sister Rita Jean DuBrey CSJ

Sister Rita Jean DuBrey

LATHAM - Sister Rita Jean DuBrey, 85, died at St. Joseph's Provincial House, Latham, NY, on August 24, 2022. Sister Rita had been a Sister of St. Joseph for 62 years. Born in Comstock, NY, she was the daughter of Clarence John DuBrey and Valerie Bouyea.

After graduating from Fort Ann Central High School, Sister Rita Jean attended St. Peter's Hospital School of Nursing, receiving an RN degree in 1957. She then entered the Sisters of St. Joseph, professing final vows in 1962. She received a BS in Psychology from St. Catherine's College, St. Paul, Minnesota (1964), and an MSN in Clinical Nursing from the University of Pennsylvania (1974).

Sister Rita's lifelong nursing ministry was about healing, inner and outer. In 1964 she was appointed Instructor at St. Mary's Hospital School of Nursing, Amsterdam, NY. In 1974 she became Director of St. Mary's Patient and Community Health Education, helping hospital and clinic patients learn to stop diseases before they happened and recover from trauma, illness, and addiction. Sister Rita's healing ministries included her work as an acccredentialed Alcoholism and Substitute Abuse Counselor.

In 1993, Sister Rita became the first Director of the Center for Complementary Therapies. The Center offered multiple therapeutic opportunities to assist patients in restoring "harmony, balance and wholeness in mind, body and spirit". Through her widespread teaching her much-loved "Healing Touch" practice spread well beyond Amsterdam.

Sister Rita published multiple professional articles and a well-received book, Promoting Wellness in

Nursing (1982). Over her 40 years of service, she received many awards, including the "Wellness Leader Award" (American Institute for Preventative Medicine, 1974), and the University of Pennsylvania Brunner Award for Innovative Practice in Nursing (1990).

For Sister Rita, "Healing others and helping them be to become independent" was not work but a

ministry: "If it is not done with faith and in the light of eternity and building the Kingdom of God, then it doesn't make much sense".

Asked about her ability to keep her challenging schedule, she answered: fidelity to prayer, an hour each day, adding, "Meditation time, quiet time, is what really sustains me".

Sister Rita loved and lived the spirituality of God's "Divine Mercy".

The CSJ community, especially her dear companion in ministry, Sister Christine Michael, also supported her. Her love for her sister, Barbara, her niece, Kelly, her nephew Daniel and all her family enriched her, as their loyalty did hers. She will be dearly missed. Sister Rita was predeceased by her parents and her sister Shirley Winch.

Funeral arrangements, which will take place at St. Joseph's Provincial House in Latham are as follows; Vespers on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 at 7:00 PM and Funeral Liturgy on Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at 10:30 AM. All are welcome.

Gifts in Sister Rita's Memory may be made to the Mission Advancement Office, St. Joseph's Provincial House, 385 Watervliet Shaker Road, Latham, NY 12110. Please visit www.mcloughlinmason.com.