By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: Sister (Dr) Amalia Pereda Ortiz de Zarate, better nown as Dr Amelia, of the Missionaries of Christ Jesus, a Catholic Church religious order passed away in the city on Monday morning.
Born on the August 31, 1927 to Daniel and Aurora Pereda Ortiz de Zarate in Spain, Dr Amalia joined the Missionaries of Christ Jesus in 1946. Soon after completing her initial religious and academic formation in Spain she was sent by her superiors to India, where she arrived on April 1, 1961.Sister Amalia had degrees in medicine and surgery from the University of Valencia in Spain. She was one of the pioneering sisters who started Nazareth Hospital in Shillong, where she was the Superintendent and surgeon for well over a decade. A couple of years ago a spine surgery and a painful knee slowed down Sister Amalia’s activities but she continued serving the poor and sick through other sister nurses.A bad bout of pneumonia in the first week of January this year confined Sister Amelia to her hospital bed, where she succumbed to the ailment peacefully Monday morning
Her mortal remains will be laid to rest on the February 14 at the Laitumkhrah Catholic Cemetery following a Holy Mass at 2 pm at Nirmali-Red hill Road, Laitumkhrah. Shillong.