May 7, 1935 – August 24, 2025

Sister Maria Goretti Bernier, OSU, a native of Sanford, Maine, died peacefully on Aug. 24, 2025. She was 90 years old and living in Lewiston.

The daughter of Edward J. and Viola McGinnis Bernier, she was born Jeanette Mary Bernier on May 7, 1935, in Sanford. She entered the Ursuline community on Jan. 15, 1953, and professed her vows on July 16, 1955.

Sister Maria Goretti was a certified nurses’ aide who proudly earned her high school diploma at age 50. During her decades of ministry, she provided service to Ursuline communities in Boston, Dedham and Springfield, Massachusetts; and Waterville, Sanford and Brunswick, Maine. She served many years on the local councils for the Ursuline communities in Waterville and Dedham.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, in St. Mary’s Chapel in St. Mary’s Residences in Lewiston, Maine, with Father Peter Odin, OP, presiding. Interment at the Ursuline Sisters’ Cemetery in Waterville will follow.