Sr. GentileA funeral Mass for Sister Nannette Gentile was celebrated Feb. 21 at The Sarah Community Marian Chapel in Bridgeton. Sister Nannette died Feb. 17 at The Sarah Community. She was 86 years of age and 68 years of vocation as a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
Born in St. Louis, she was a 1951 graduate of Laboure High School in St. Louis and entered the Daughters of Charity in Normandy later that year. Sister Nannette earned a bachelor’s degree from Marillac College in Normandy in 1959. She spent the next year studying French at the University of Montreal, Canada. Sister Nanette earned a master’s degree in French from Saint Louis University in 1963 and a doctoral degree in Spanish at SLU in 1973. She was asked to translate at several international Daughters of Charity meetings in Rome and Paris.
In the Archdiocese of St. Louis, she taught at St. Vincent School in Perryville (1955-59). At Marillac College in Normandy, she served as a French teacher and professor (1960-73), Language Department chair (1966-67), Humanities Department vice chair (1966-77), as dean of students (1972-73) and as assistant professor of humanities (1972-73). Sister Nannette moved to Marillac Provincial House in St. Louis to serve as the seminary directress (1973-79). During that time, she also taught French and Spanish to Vincentian seminarians at St. Mary’s Seminary in Perryville.
Sister Nannette served as provincial formation councillor and provincial assistant in St. Louis (1980-89) and provincial of the former West Central Province (1989-98). She served as local community superior for the Daughters of Charity at The Sarah Community (2012-16).
Elsewhere, Sister Nannette served as a grade school teacher in Illinois, at El Carmen Mission in San Antonio, Texas, as the coordinator of religious education in the parish and in Austin, Texas, on the Education and Organization Development Team at Seton Medical Center, as vice president of mission for Seton Healthcare Network and as assistant to the president of leadership formation for the Seton Family Healthcare.
Sister Nannette held many board appointments, including on the Daughters of Charity National Health System West Central Region, Province Hospital in Waco, Hotel Dieu Hospital in New Orleans, and the Catholic Hospital/Health Association.
Survivors include two sisters, Dr. Kathleen Sheridan of Estero, Florida, and Patricia Hurst of St. Louis. Burial was in Marillac Cemetery in Normandy.