Sister Mary Dorothy Luli, SND (Formerly Sister Mary Rayanne)February 10, 1940 – August 26, 2025Professed: August 16, 1960Dorothy was born on February 10, 1940, to George and Mary Louise (Hostler) Luli, the ninth of their eleven children. With five sisters and five brothers, she learned the patience that comes with sharing, and the joy of always having someone to talk to or play with. Growing up in Rootstown, near Ravenna, the family attended St. Peter of the Fields Church. As an eighth-grader at Rootstown School, Dorothy confided to a friend that she had thought about joining a religious community. Her friend expressed the same desire, and the girls decided to apply to Villa Maria High School in Pennsylvania as boarders. If they had a vocation, they reasoned, they would become Sisters of the Humility of Mary after graduation. However, the other girl’s father became ill, and Dorothy did not want to go to Pennsylvania without knowing anyone. So she prayed that her call to the sisterhood would be realized in another way. The answer came in 1956, through the parish catechism classes taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame. Dorothy was invited to visit the Aspirant School in Cleveland. On September 8, she began her junior year at NDA. “Somehow I thought the good-bye to my family would be a very temporary one,” Dorothy wrote in her autobiography. “But on that day, I realized how much my family really meant to me.” Despite the homesickness that was a normal reaction to being so far away, Dorothy persevered in her intent to follow God’s call. On February 2, 1958, Dorothy became a postulant, asking Jesus and Mary to guide her through life as a good Sister of Notre Dame. At investment she received the name Sister Mary Rayanne.
From 1961 to 1968, Sister Dorothy ministered in Maryhill Convalescent Home in Canton and then in the Chardon Infirmary Diet Kitchen, where she prepared special menu items and oversaw the novices who took the trays to the patients. After basic course work at Notre Dame College in South Euclid, she enrolled in Marymount Hospital School of Nursing, graduating in 1972 as a Licensed Practical Nurse. She cared for the sisters in the Chardon Infirmary for the next 19 years. In 1991, she became Director of Nursing at Light of Hearts Villa in Bedford, Ohio, operated by the Vincentian Sisters of Charity. Her organizational skills helped her to accomplish all that was required. She supervised the health care staff, reviewed medical records of prospective patients, and completed regular assessments of each resident. She was certified to teach and prepare nursing assistant candidates for state testing and re-certification. “Caring for people who are elderly is both a challenge and a reward,” she said. “A holistic approach encourages a positive attitude toward living life to the fullest.”
From 1999 until 2009, Sister Dorothy was the administrator of the SND Health Care Center in Chardon. After a brief time as an LPN at The Village of Marymount, she went back to school—to Saint Helen School in Newbury, as School Nurse. From 2010 to 2022, she enjoyed working with the children, meeting and greeting them each day and becoming a much-loved part of the school and parish community. During the past three years, she helped with maintaining nursing records in our SND Health Care Center. She touched thousands of lives in her ministry of healing and compassionate care.
She was devoted to her family, as each generation in turn was cherished, loved, and prayed for. She was an excellent cook. She planned happy vacation times with friends, and made lovely cards for jubilees. A good friend added: “She knew how to overcome challenges.” Her focus was on God, not on herself. “I thank God for the ministries I have had and for the gifts given me to fulfill them,” she said. “God’s love is so vividly made visible.” We are grateful for her life on earth, and for the immeasurable joy of her eternal life.
The Mass of Christian Burial for Sister Mary Dorothy will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 4, 2025, at the Sisters of Notre Dame Center, 13000 Auburn Road, Chardon, OH. It will be live-streamed. Go to www.sndusa.org. Click on the Chardon Regional Center. Visitation will be from 9:30 until Mass begins.
To make a donation in memory of Sister Mary Dorothy, please click here.
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