MILWAUKEE — School Sister of St. Francis Dorothy Petit, who lived her religious vocation as a homemaker and nurse for more than 60 years, died Nov. 29 at Sacred Heart in Milwaukee. She was 81 years old.

Sister Dorothy was born April 21, 1937, in Chicago. She was received into the School Sisters of St. Francis on June 13, 1955, made her first profession of vows in 1957, and final (perpetual) vows in 1963.

Sister Dorothy is survived by a brother, Eugene Petit of Homer Glen; sisters Loretta Sheputis of Hickory Hills and JoAnn Eckert of Palos Heights; and the School Sisters of St. Francis Community, with whom she shared her life for 63 years.

Sister Dorothy ministered as a homemaker and licensed practical nurse in Illinois, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Indiana for more than six decades. In the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, she served as a homemaker at St. Margaret Mary Convent in Granite City from 1965 to 1970.

In retirement Sister Dorothy served in the ministry of prayer and presence at Clement Manor in Greenfield, Wis., from 2017 to 2018, and at Sacred Heart in Milwaukee from 2018 until the time of her death.

A wake and funeral Mass were held on Dec. 4 at St. Joseph Chapel in Milwaukee. Interment was at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip.