Sister Sally Ann Negrete
February 10, 1937 ~ June 27, 2023
Born in:
San Diego, California
Resided in:
Fremont, California
Sister Sally Ann Negrete died peacefully on June 27, 2023, at the age of 86. She was born in San Diego on February 10, 1937, to Ramona Castanos and Miguel Negrete, and entered the Sisters of the Holy Family from Sacred Heart Parish in Ocean Beach on July 2, 1957 at the age of 20.
Sister Sally served in religious education and teacher formation for most of her years in ministry, starting in the Bay Area of California and then to Southern California, and then everywhere! She served in Alaska, Nevada, Hawaii, Mexico, and finally back to Southern California where she served in pastoral parish ministry while helping care for her mother with her family. In 2009 she moved her mother to the Sisters’ care center and came to the Motherhouse, where she remained doing community service after her mother’s death.
When asked what we should say about Sister Sally in her obituary, Sisters responded: “Joyful!” “Adventurous!” “She loved to travel!” “She loved the water, the ocean!” “She would try anything!” “Great story-teller! Funny!” Sister Sally’s last years involved increasing undiagnosed pain, which was finally named as ALS. She faced her future with courage and determination, and with steadfast faith.
Among Sister Sally’s papers when she died was a hand-written copy of a poem dated 1992 which contained these lines: “When I come to the end of the road and the sun has set for me, I want no rites in a gloom-filled room. Why cry for a soul set free? Miss me a little but not too long and not with your head bowed low. Remember the love that we have shared. Miss me, but let me go” (Christina Rossetti).
Sister Sally’s funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday, July 21, at 2:00 pm in the Sisters’ Oratory. Burial will take place at a later date at Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma
Services
Memorial Service: July 21, 2023 2:00 pm
Room: Chapel
Holy Family Sisters Chapel
159 Washington Blvd
Fremont, CA 94539
510-624-4500
Sign the Guestbook, Light a Candle