Beloved Nun Dies in Crash on Way Home After Retiring

A Laguna Niguel nun whose friendly spirit was instrumental in drawing dozens of parishioners into volunteer service and outreach programs was killed in a car accident Monday, less than two hours after she left Orange County and headed home to Milwaukee to retire.

Sister Bernice Petroneitis, 79, was driving on Interstate 15 near Victorville shortly before 9 a.m. when the car drifted off the right shoulder, hit a dirt berm and crashed into some trees, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said. Petroneitis and her cousin, Eleanore Maceika, 75, who had flown to California from Orland Park, Ill., to accompany Petroneitis on the long drive, died instantly, officials said.

It was unclear what caused the car to drift off the road.

“It’s just such a shock right now,” said Sister Paula Jane Tupa of Lake Forest. “She was so loved and admired. . . . So many people have been touched by her work.”

Petroneitis, who entered the Sisters of St. Francis order when she was 18, had been at St. Timothy’s Catholic Church in Laguna Niguel for more than 10 years. Always happy and warm, Petroneitis connected with the congregation in a way that enabled her to recruit people as “associates” who assisted her and the Rev. Bruce Lavery in their many ministries, said longtime friend Genevieve Brady.

“She cared deeply about people and wanted to be involved in their lives,” Brady said. “I’ve never met anyone like her.”

Petroneitis recently announced her plans to return to her home parish in Milwaukee and retire. About 50 church members threw a going-away party for her on Saturday at St. Timothy’s and honored her years of service there. Dessert included frosted cookies shaped like the letter “B” because Petroneitis was known simply as Sister B, Brady said.

“At the party, whenever anyone started to get sad about her leaving, she made them promise not to cry,” Brady said. “She wanted to be happy and smiling, and she was. And that’s how I’ll always remember her.”