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October 21, 2019
Christina Gray
Marilyn Panelli, who graduated from St. Peter Academy more than 64 years ago, is being honored by her alma mater for the life she has led since she left it in 1955.
In a videotaped interview conducted by current students in advance of the 140-year-old school’s Alumni and Memorial Mass on Oct. 27 at St. Peter Church, Marilyn gave much of the credit to the Mercy Sisters who were her teachers at the parish school.
“They made me who I am as much as my parents did,” Marilyn said. “I probably would have become one of them if my husband hadn’t come along.”
St. Peter pastor Father Moises Agudo, and University of San Francisco president Father Paul Fitzgerald, SJ, will concelebrate the Mass for the annual event.
Born in San Francisco to Italian-American parents, Marilyn Musante attended St. Peter School from elementary school through high school.
“It was heaven,” she said. “I couldn’t wait to go to school each day.”
Marilyn was president of her senior class and also student body president of St. Peter Academy, which not long after her graduation became a K-8 school known as St. Peter School.
At 19, she married and enrolled at Lone Mountain College (now part of the University of San Francisco). She raised a family while earning a teaching credential which she put to good use as a grade school teacher at Holy Name School in San Francisco.
Marilyn has remained close to St. Peter School and has served as president of the St. Peter’s Academy Alumni Association. She has volunteered in third grade teacher Cyndi Gonzalez’s classroom for over five years and is a Mercy Associate.
“I like what the school does, I’m really proud,” Marilyn said, noting that it has always welcomed “people newer to being American,” who were not wealthy and make sacrifices to give their children a Catholic school education.
Marilyn helps fund high school scholarships to Archbishop Riordan High School and Immaculate Conception Academy in San Francisco.
“Knowing how expensive it is now for families, just that little bit out of my monthly money is not much,” she said. “I feel like I’m giving back.”
DIAPER DUTY: Members of Knights of Columbus Council 12683 of Church of the Visitacion Parish delivered diapers to Epiphany Center’s Mary Rhoades on Oct. 10. The San Francisco parish held a diaper drive Oct. 6 to benefit the Daughter of Charities nonprofit on Masonic Avenue which supports women recovering from addiction and their children. Diapers are a significant expense for Epiphany Center and the drive was part of the parish’s Respect Life Sunday observances. (Courtesy photo)
BURMESE CATHOLICS REJOICE: The local Burmese Catholic community gathered for Mass Oct. 5 at St. Thomas More Church in San Francisco to mark the 25th anniversary of the Burmese American Catholic Fellowship (BACF). Father Stephen Mahn Thapwa, a visiting Burmese priest, founded BACF in San Francisco in 1995 with the aim of providing spiritual, social and personal support to local Burmese American Catholic families. It also supports Catholic missionary endeavors in Burma, also known as Myanmar.
Father Thapwa, St. Thomas More pastor Father Marvin-Paul R. Felipe, associate pastor Father Richard Van De Water and Father Chrysostom Ah Maung, concelebrated the anniversary Mass.
BACF was established as the Burmese Ministry by the archdiocese’s office of ethnic ministries in 1997. The Burmese Catholic community celebrates Mass together at St. Thomas More Church on the first Saturday of each month, incorporating Burmese language and costume. (Photo by Richard Khoo)
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