Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Maria (Josefita) Candelaria, 89, died June 18 in Hazel Green, Wisconsin.

She was born in New Mexico and made her first profession as a Discalced Carmelite in 1957, receiving the name Maria Isabel. She transferred her vows to the Sinsinawa Dominicans in 1980.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and Spanish from Rosary College (now Dominican University), River Forest; a master’s degree in pastoral studies from Loyola University Chicago; and a master’s degree in secondary education from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

She ministered as a teacher in New Mexico and Texas.