STEFANICS, Charlotte, L., age 98, of Centerville, passed away peacefully on Sunday March 15, 2026. She was born December 30, 1927 in Leechburg, PA and grew up in Vandergrift, PA.

She is preceded in death by her sister, Ethel Vance, brother, Jesse Stefanics, niece, Karen Vance and nephew, George Stefanics.

She is survived by her sister, Mary Somogy, nieces Linda Vance, Mary Vance and Elizabeth Stefanics and nephews Thomas Vance and Michael Stefanics.

Charlotte qualified for the Nurse Cadet Corps and attended the nursing school at St Elizabeth Hospital in Dayton, graduating in 1948. She began working in various hospitals and within a few years, she felt a calling to the religious life and entered the convent. She continued to perform nursing duties in hospitals until she left the convent and shifted her nursing concentration to mental health. She earned a Master of Science in Nursing focusing on Psychiatric Mental Health and became an advanced registered nurse practitioner. She worked in private practice, taught at Duke University and performed various duties at the VA Medical Center in Bay Pines, Florida. She returned to school and earned a Doctor of Education focusing on Administration and Supervision in Human Services.

Charlotte was a member of several professional organizations including various nursing associations, the Viktor Frankl Institute of Logotherapy and the Association of Christian Therapists. She published several papers, co-authored books and conducted workshops on mental health, caring for the elderly and death and dying.

While Charlotte left the convent years before, the Catholic faith remained central in her life. After retiring from nursing, she moved to Dayton to be near family and soon after, became the Catholic Chaplain for Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton.

The family would like to thank the staff of St Leonard and Hospice of Dayton.

Visitation will be at St Leonard Chapel, 8100 Clyo Road, Centerville, OH on Friday March, 27, 2026 from 10:00 am to 11:00 am with a Mass of Christian Burial beginning at 11:00 am followed by burial at Calvary Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the St Leonard Chapel Fund or Hospice of Dayton in Charlotte’s name. Westbrock Funeral Home-BIGGER RD serving the family.