Sister Ana Maria Marrero, O.P., 98 and a member of the Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, for 79 years, died May 2.

Born in Puerto Rico,  Ana Maria first met the Amityville Dominicans in their missions in Puerto Rico.  In 1936, she entered the Novitiate in Amityville from the parish of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico.  She received the habit and the name, Sister Scholastica, in 1937 and pronounced first vows in 1938.

Her first mission was as a domestic at Cathedral College faculty house, Brooklyn, where she also was able to practice and improve her language skills in English.  Beginning in 1939, she was assigned as a cook to serve the in the convents of St. Barbara, Bushwick, and at St. Clement Pope Martyr, South Ozone Park.

From 1945 until 1950, she assisted with the cooking and other domestic tasks in St. Rose Convent, Melville, L.I. In 1950, she returned to Puerto Rico where, as a nursing assistant, she helped at the Dispensario de Providencia, San Juan, until 1954. She then began her teaching ministry in elementary religious education at Santo Tomás de Aquino Colegio, San Juan, until 1960.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from the Catholic University of Puerto Rico and an master’s from the University of Puerto Rico.  She later received an master of science in teaching theology from the Aquinas Institute, Dubuque, Iowa.  From 1960 to 1980, she taught in elementary schools in Puerto Rico: San Vincente Ferrer, Cataño; Academia Santa Rosa, Bayamon; St. Augustine, Isabela, where she later became the librarian.

From 1988 to 1993, she ministered in pastoral services to the elderly in Bayamon. As her health began to fail, she returned to Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse, Amityville, in 1993 where her ministry became intercessory prayer. Health needs in 2003 necessitated her move to Maria Regina Residence, Brentwood, L.I.

She is survived by her sister, Felicita Marrero.

Burial was in the Sisters’ cemetery in Amityville.