Sister Philothea Larisch, O.P., 83 and a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville for 58 years, died March 16.

Born in Berlin, Germany as Anneliese, she was raised in an orphanage run by Sisters. During World War II, the children at the orphanage were forced by Hitler’s soldiers to dig ditches as part of the war effort.

Through the sisters at the orphanage, Anneliese met Mother Adelaide Schuerkamp, O.P., and a friendship grew. Desiring to enter the congregation, she immigrated to the U.S. in 1957. After her arrival, she lived at Mary Immaculate Hospital, Jamaica, while studying English. In 1958, she was admitted as a candidate and one year later was invested in the habit and received her religious name.

For almost three decades, she ministered as a nurse’s aide at Our Lady of Consolation, Amityville; 
St. Rose, Melville; Villa Maria, Water Mill; and Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse, Amityville. She also cared for young children who boarded at St. Joseph Mountain School, Monticello, N.Y.

For the past eight years, she was a patient at Maria Regina Residence, Brentwood.

Burial was in the Sisters’ cemetery at Amityville.