SISTER MARY LAETITIA PLONA

SISTER MARY LAETITIA PLONA – ENFIELD, Conn. – Sister Mary Laetitia Plona, 101, died Sept. 27, 2008, at Holy Family Infirmary, Enfield, Conn., in her 77th year of religious life in the Felician Sisters Congregation. Stella Agnes Plona was born Dec. 31, 1906, in Gardner, Mass., the fifth child in a family of 16 children of Alexander and Alexandra (Wiski) Plona. In 1931 she entered the Felician Sisters Community in Lodi, N.J. In 1938 she was transferred to the newly-established Our Lady of the Angels Province, Enfield, Conn., where she professed perpetual vows in 1939. In November 2006, Sister Laetitia celebrated her 75th anniversary of religious life. Sister Laetitia graduated from Mercy Hospital School of Nursing, Springfield, Mass., in 1944; the Catholic University of America School of Nursing, Washington, D.C., with a Bachelor of Science in nursing education in 1947; and Boston College with an Master of Science in nursing in 1962. Nursing assignments included Our Lady of the Angels Infirmary, Enfield, Conn.; Blackwell General Hospital School of Nursing, Blackwell, Okla.; and St. Joseph Hospital, Bangor. She was on the staff of St. Joseph for many years, where she organized and directed a school of nursing, a program in practical nursing and later an upward mobility program-LPN to RN. Both programs became accredited by the National League for Nursing and the school numbered almost 450 graduates. She served as director of the hospital for several years before being named director emeritus and then moved on to the provincial house in Enfield, Conn. Sister Laetitia was a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International honor society for nursing and the American Nurses Association. In addition, she served a five-year term on the Maine State Board of Nursing from 1977 to 1982. Sister Laetitia was predeceased by two brothers and eight sisters. Surviving are one brother, four sisters and several nieces and nephews. The Mass of Christian burial has been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, at Our Lady of the Angels Provincial House chapel, Enfield, Conn. Interment will be at the Felician Sisters plot in St. Adalbert’s Cemetery, Enfield, Conn. In her memory, donations to the Anna Kosak Nursing Scholarship Fund, care of St. Joseph Healthcare Development Office, P.O. Box 1638, Bangor, ME 04402-1638 will be gratefully received.