Medical Mission Sister
Judy (Jude Marie) Garbaccio, M.M.S.
August 11, 1933 - January 8, 2012


Sister Judy Garbaccio, M.M.S., daughter of the late Paul and Catherine (Loughlin) Garbaccio, died January 8, 2012, in Philadelphia. A native of Upper Montclair, NJ, Sister Judy graduated from Mount St. Dominic Academy in Caldwell, NJ, studied pre-med at Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, and received her nursing diploma from St. Joseph Hospital School of Nursing in Paterson, NJ, before entering the Medical Mission Sisters in 1956.

She worked as a nursing supervisor at St. Vincent's Hospital in Philadelphia and Holy Family Hospital, Berekum, Ghana, before beginning 11 years of health care service to the people of Uganda. She first worked at Virika Hospital in Fort Portal, then for Uganda's Ministry of Health. At the same time she served as the Medical Mission Sisters' African Formation Director.

After returning to the U.S. in 1974 and receiving her B.S.N. from St. Louis University, Sister Judy was missioned to Kyeni Hospital, then Nangina Hospital in Kenya as director of nursing service. In 1983 she returned to mission in Uganda, where she organized community-based health care projects in the Mbarara Diocese. She then served as District Formation Coordinator in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Since 1995, Sister Judy has pursued her deep interest in spiritual direction and retreat work. She taught in the Church Ministry Institute of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, a three-year certificate program for laypeople that she had helped to develop. She also offered individual spiritual counseling to religious and laity.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated for Sister Judy on Friday, January 13, at 10:30 a.m. at the Medical Mission Sisters' Chapel North American Headquarters, 8400 Pine Road, in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia.
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