Fortier, Sister Therese, CSJ, May 15, 1927 - June 25, 2011, was a Sister of St. Joseph of Orange for 61 years. After entering the congregation, Sister Therese volunteered to go to Papua New Guinea where she served the indigenous people as a nurse for 19 years. "From the time I set foot on the Islands of Buka and Nissan, I loved the people there and made myself one with them. I took care of the sick and delivered their babies for nineteen years," she said. Of particular note was a breakthrough in a superstition about twins. At her insistence, service and witness, twins had the opportunity to thrive and be accepted as part of the families to whom they were born. Sister Therese also served at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, St. Luke Hospital in Pasadena and St. Mary Medical Center in Apple Valley. She also served with missionary zeal in Sydney and Melville Island, Australia. In her later years, she was a volunteer at Bethany, a transitional shelter for women. A funeral Mass will be held Thursday, June 30 at 11:00 a.m. in the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange Sacred Heart Chapel, followed by burial at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery.