Sister Virginia Baeder, RSM, formerly Sister Mary Serena, died on April 27 at Maria Regina Residence after a short illness.

A Sister of Mercy for 65 years, Virginia began her ministry in education at St. Patrick’s School (Kent Ave.), Brooklyn, and St. Mary’s School in Roslyn, New York, where the children in those schools benefited from her excellent skills in teaching.

She went on to become principal at Holy Trinity School in Whitestone from 1975 to 1987. From 1987 until 2004, she was director of religious education at Immaculate Conception Parish in Westhampton Beach, Long Island.

In later years, she assumed the position of archivist for the Brooklyn Regional Community of Mercy. It was truly a ministry she loved.

She took meticulous care to record the lives of the Sisters with memorials after they passed from this life.

Sister Virginia never faltered in her pursuit of holiness, exhibited when she suffered the loss of partial vision.

She labored on in whatever task was set before her, trusting that the God whom she served so well for so many years would see her through to completion.

Sister Virginia is survived by her brother, Jack, and his wife, Pat, and her sister-in-law, Sue, and loving cousins, nieces, and nephews. She was predeceased by her brother, Donald.

A funeral Mass was celebrated at the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Whitestone, and burial followed in Resurrection/St. Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale.