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Sister Mary Bertoli, SNJM
June 7, 1931 – December 11, 2025
Sister Mary Bertoli, SNJM departed this life on December 11, 2025 in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Sister Mary celebrated 94 years of life and 73 years of her religious profession.
A Mass of Resurrection will be held on Thursday, January 8, 2026, at Holy Names Chapel in Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Her burial will follow at Holy Names Cemetery in Marylhurst, Oregon.
Sister Mary Bertoli, SNJM
June 7, 1931 – December 11, 2025
Sister Mary Bertoli, SNJM, 94, died on December 11 in Lake Oswego, Oregon, at Mary’s Woods at Marylhurst continuing care retirement community.
The Mass of Resurrection is Thursday, January 8, 11am, the Chapel of the Holy Names, Marylhurst. Burial follows at nearby Holy Names Cemetery.
The third daughter of Christopher and Frances O’Brien Bertoli, Mary was born in Michigan, coming to Portland as a teenager. After graduating from St. Mary’s Academy, Mary entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Holy Names at Marylhurst in 1950, eventually receiving the religious name Sister Mary Zita.
Mary’s first ministry was elementary education. She taught 7th and 8th grades at several Holy Names schools in Oregon and Washington including The Madeleine, Holy Redeemer, The Assumption and St. Philip Neri in Portland; St. Mary’s in Eugene; St. Paul’s in St. Paul; and St. Patrick’s in Seattle. She also served as principal at St. Paul’s and St. Philip Neri.
In 1971 Mary was chosen to be provincial leader of the Oregon Province just as major changes were happening in the Church and religious life following the Second Vatican Council. These were both challenging and energizing times for Mary and the Holy Names Sisters as they contemplated a renewed vision for community and ministry.
On completing her term, Mary turned her focus to working with people on the margins. She moved into roles with service organizations like the St. Vincent de Paul Society. She later founded and served as the first director of Rita’s Place, a shelter for battered women in northeast Portland, named in memory of her sister Rita Bertoli Dieringer. She also served as Service Coordinator at St. Mary’s Academy, Portland, for three years.
In 1991, Mary answered a call of the Spirit to go to Mississippi where she joined other Holy Names Sisters ministering there. In her ten years there, Mary came to know and love the “people of the delta.”
With the inspiration of images of loved people and scenes of the delta, Mary developed a colorful tissue paper collage art style which led to her wonderful “third career” as an artist. She established of a card and print business of her collages that brought her a wide audience, including actor Morgan Freeman who purchased one of her originals for his restaurant in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The proceeds of her enterprise were applied to numerous ministry projects.
Mary loved life, her family, friends, the Holy Names community, and God’s Spirit acting in people’s lives. She will be remembered for her generous heart and as one animated by a deep sense of social justice.
A Holy Names Sister for 73 years, Mary is survived by her siblings, Jean Galluzzo, Lois Conrad, nieces, grandnieces and nephews and members of her religious community. She was pre-deceased by her parents Christopher and Frances O’Brien Bertoli and her siblings, Holy Names Sister Judy Bertoli, Rita Bertoli Dieringer and Tony Bertoli. Remembrances may be made to Sisters of the Holy Names, PO Box 398, Marylhurst, OR 97036 or online at www.snjmusontario.org.