A Mass of Christian Burial was held on July 29 at Holy Family Chapel in the Convent Station neighborhood of Morris Township, N.J., for Sister Dolores Lew, a Sister of Charity of St. Elizabeth, who died on July 24 at St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, N.J. She was 84.
Sister Lew was a member of the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth for 46 years.
Born in Bayonne, N.J., in 1941, Sister Lew was the daughter of Robert Lew and Nellie Pang Lai. She entered the Sisters of Charity in 1979 in response to a call she felt to serve God’s people in a medical setting.
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Sister Lew began her ministry of service as a Dominican Sister of Caldwell in Caldwell, N.J. She graduated from Caldwell College, now Caldwell University, with a bachelor’s degree in biology. She earned a master’s degree in biology from Villanova University in Villanova, Penn.
In addition, Sister Lew earned a certification in medical technology from the School of Medical Technology at St. Joseph Hospital in Paterson, and she received a blood bank certificate from the American Red Cross in Baltimore, Md.
Sister Lew also received licensing as a physician assistant. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in that profession from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey/Rutgers. She was the first Sister of Charity to become a physician assistant.
Sister Lew was a laboratory technologist and chief of the Blood Bank at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital (Trinitas) in Elizabeth, N.J. She was the first physician assistant to join the staff of St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson. Sister Dolores was a physician assistant in the Emergency Department at St. Joseph’s for 24 years until her retirement in 2019.
Sister Dolores enjoyed cooking for family and friends, gardening, and sharing the vegetables from her garden. She received the Best Age Strong Garden award in the 2024 Greenest Place in Paterson Garden Contest.
During the final years of her life, Sister Dolores lived with a serious illness, which she faced with courage and resolve.
Sister Lew was preceded in death by her parents and her sister, Shirley Calderone. Her Sisters of Charity community survives her; her friend, Sister Edna Francis Hersinger; her nieces, Christine Velarde, Michele Cavallaro and Toni Anne Caracappa; her nephew, Joseph Calderone; her brothers, Robert, John, David, Peter, and Joseph; her sisters, Kammoy King and Joanne Chin; and many nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
Burial took place in Holy Family Cemetery in Convent Station.
Please make donations in memory of Sister Dolores Lew to the Sisters of Charity Office of Legacy and Mission Advancement, P. O. Box 476, Convent Station, N.J., 07961.
