PORTLAND – Sister Mary Natalie Amoroso, R.S.M., a dedicated teacher at Cathedral Grammar School and longtime volunteer for PROP’S Foster Grandparent Program, who inspired students to reach their full potential, died Monday. She was 94.
Sister Mary Natalie grew up in Portland and entered the Sisters of Mercy in 1941. She graduated from Saint Joseph’s College with a degree in education.
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Sister Mary Natalie dedicated her life to teaching Maine’s youngest students. She worked at six parochial schools across the state during her 40-year teaching career. She began teaching at the former Cathedral School in Portland in the early 1940s. She went on to teach at St. Dominic’s Grammar School in Portland; St. Mary’s School in Augusta, Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Fairfield, St. Mary’s School in Biddeford and St. Joseph’s School in Lewiston. She then returned back to where she started — at Cathedral School, teaching first grade.
Sister Maureen Wallace, R.S.M,, said Thursday that she created a friendly, loving and nurturing environment for her students. She said Sister Mary Natalie loved her students and inspired them to succeed.
“She had a gentle personality and I think the children took to that,” she said. “She accepted every child . She always had a positive story about one of her students about how wonderful they were and how hard they worked.”
She taught at Cathedral with her sister, Sister Mary Vincentia Amoroso, R.S.M. In a 1982 news story in the Portland Evening Express about their retirement, Sister Mary Natalie said one of her greatest thrills as a teacher was teaching her former students’ children.
“We’ve really enjoyed every moment of our teaching,” Sister Mary Natalie said in the news story. “Children are our greatest joy and pleasure.”
Sister Mary Natalie spent the next 20 years volunteering in the Portland public schools, teaching reading and English as a second language. She volunteered for the Foster Grandparent Program at Hall School and Riverton School.
“The kids called her Granny Sister,” Sister Maureen Wallace said.
In recent years, Sister Mary Natalie lived at Saint Joseph’s Rehabilitation and Residence. Sister David Mary Duncan, R.S.M., remembered her Thursday as a kind, caring and compassionate woman who inspired so many around her.
“She was something else just a super, super person,” Sister David Mary said. “She was so kind to people. She just put a light in your life. No matter how she felt, she gave you a beautiful smile. She treated everyone the same way.”
Staff Writer Melanie Creamer can be contacted at 791-6361 or at:
mcreamer@pressherald.com
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