Aston, PA—Sister Kathleen Cronin, OSF (formerly Sister St. Philomene), 90, died in Assisi House on January 15, 2019. She had been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia for 68 years. Sister Kathleen was born Kathleen Patricia Cronin in Wilmington, Delaware, where she was a member of St. Ann Parish and a graduate of Wilmington High School. She entered the congregation in 1949 and professed her first vows in 1951. Her sister, Sister Margaret Philomene, was also a member of the congregation and is previously deceased. Sister Kathleen earned a B.S. in Nursing and a M.S. in Nursing Education from the Catholic University and a M.S. in Public Health from the University of North Carolina. She ministered primarily in nursing education.

Sister Kathleen ministered for 62 years in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. She ministered as a staff nurse at St. Agnes Hospital and as a member of the nursing faculty at St. Agnes School of Nursing in Philadelphia. She ministered at Neumann University in Aston for more than 30 years—as a professor of nursing, as well as an assistant to the chairperson of nursing and the assistant to VP of academic affairs, and in later years, as a volunteer. She also served at St. Mary Hospital in Philadelphia as well as Resurrection Parish in Chester in parish ministry.  In 2015 she moved to Assisi House, the congregation’s retirement residence in Aston, where she served in prayer and hospitality ministry until her death.

Sister Kathleen’s additional ministry includes teaching at St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing in Lancaster in the Diocese of Harrisburg.

All services will be held in Assisi House, 600 Red Hill Road, Aston, Pennsylvania, 19014 on Friday, January 18. A Christian Wake Service will be held at 9:30 A.M. followed by viewing. Mass of Christian Burial at will be at 11 A.M. Burial will be in Our Lady of Angels Cemetery in Aston. Sister Kathleen is survived by two sisters, Ann Farrell and Mary Frances Kelleher, nieces, nephews, and by her Franciscan family. Donations in her name can be made to the Sisters of St. Francis Foundation, 609 S. Convent Road, Aston, PA 19014.