Sister Mary Donata Fanelle, S.S.N.D., a retired teacher, died Tuesday of heart failure at Villa Assumpta, the motherhouse of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, where she had lived in retirement since 1990. She was 87.
A mass of Christian burial for Sister Donata was being offered today at the motherhouse, 6401 N. Charles St.
Earlier, she had lived at St. Peter's Convent in Philadelphia, where she taught for nearly 10 years before her retirement in 1984.
She also taught at schools in Camden, N.J., and Poughkeepsie, N.Y., and from 1935 until 1950 in Baltimore, at St. Leo's School.
A native of Camden, the former Lucy Fanelle entered the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1932 after working as a sewing machine operator. She was a graduate of the Institute of Notre Dame.
She is survived by two sisters, Ida and Carrie Fanelle, both of Merchantville, N.J.