By Ana Rodriguez Soto - The Archdiocese of Miami

MIAMI GARDENS | She died where she spent 51 of her 57 years as a religious � and she will be laid to rest next to her mentor and closest collaborator.

Sister Paola Nofori, one of the original Sisters of St. Joseph Cottolengo who arrived in Miami in 1963 to establish the Marian Center School and Services for the developmentally disabled, has died at the age of 80.

She had been diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer in June and celebrated her 80th birthday July 5 in the hospital. She died July 23, just 10 months after the passing of the Marian Center’s beloved founder, Sister Lucia Ceccotti.

On Sunday night, July 20, “we were able to bring (Sister Paola) to the Marian Center and she died yesterday morning at 12:20 here in the convent,” said Sister Lidia Valli, one of the seven Sisters of St. Joseph Cottolengo who work in South Florida.

She and two others staff the Marian Center, and four others work at the HOPE Outreach Center in Davie. Sister Lidia took over as executive director of the Marian Center upon the death of Sister Lucia last September.

Although Sister Paola had not been responsive the last few days, “we told her we were coming home. We hope that she was hearing us,” Sister Lidia said.

She noted that Sister Lucia, Sister Paola and Sister Carla, the third member of the original group who arrived in 1963, “never left the Marian Center.”

“It’s painful,” she added. But the news was hardest on the 60 adults who receive vocational training every day at the Marian Center. Sister Paola opened the job training facility in 1979 and had been in charge of it ever since.

“It’s very, very difficult on the adults because they were with Sister Paola all their lives,” Sister Lidia said.

The job training facility served students who had graduated from the Marian Center’s school. At one point, companies such as American Airlines gave them work repackaging the headphones used by airline passengers. Now, “we don’t have a job per se,” Sister Lidia said, but the students continue to engage in vocational and educational activities.

A native of Italy, Sister Paola made her first profession with the Sisters of St. Joseph Benedict Cottolengo in 1957. The order is dedicated to caring for the poor and handicapped, so Sister Paola trained as a nurse. After arriving in Miami, she got a bachelor’s degree in special education from Barry University. This October would have marked her 51st year both in South Florida and at the Marian Center.

“She was very quiet. Everybody remembered her as a quiet person but very firm, very organized. She paid attention to all the details. She was very fond of the Marian Center. She loved Sister Lucia greatly. They shared this mission together,” Sister Lidia said.

She added that she will especially remember “her faithfulness, her religious commitment. Giving her life to the Lord and spending her life here in the Marian Center. I thought it was very courageous what they did in coming here from Italy 50 years ago. She was always faithful and always dedicated. This kind of drive � they had to serve.”

Sister Paola was the youngest in her family, who all remained in Italy. She is survived by two older sisters who cannot travel due to advanced age, but she was able to speak with them via Skype on her birthday.

A private viewing will take place Friday, July 25, at 10 a.m. for the Marian Center students. The public viewing will take place at the Marian Center, 15701 N.W. 37 Ave, Opa-locka, from 3 to 7 p.m., with a prayer service at 6 p.m. The funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday, July 26, at 1 p.m. at Visitation Church, 100 N.E. 191 St., Miami.

Burial will follow at Our Lady of Mercy Cemetery in Doral � near the spot where Sister Lucia is buried.