Sister Melania Masera

May 2, 1960 - May 2, 2017

Sister Melania Masera, age 57, of Carroll, died Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. A funeral mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 6, 2017 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Carroll. Celebrant and Homilist will be Fr. Tom Flanagan. Con-Celebrant will be Fr. Timothy Johnson. Music will be by Barb McDermott and the Holy Spirit Choir. Lector for the funeral mass will be Denise Higgins. Gift Bearers will be: Sister Eusebia Masoi, Sister Segolena Tarimo, and Sister Jovitha Mtenga. Casket Bearers will be her African Sisters. The Indian Sisters and African Sisters will form an honor guard for the funeral mass. Burial will be in her home country of Tanzania. Friends may call at Holy Spirit Church in Carroll after 5 p.m. on Friday where there will be a rosary prayed at 7 p.m. Additional visitation will be held one hour prior to the funeral mass at Holy Spirit Church. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Sharp Funeral Home in Carroll and online condolences may be left at www.sharpfuneral.com. Sister Melania Masera was born on May 2, 1960 in Moshi Tanzania, Africa, the daughter of John Raphael and Dionisia (Mworio) Masera. She joined the Society of the Holy Spirit Sisters in 1982. She made her 1st dedication on December 15, 1986 at Rauya Moshi Tanzania, Africa. She made her final dedication on May 22, 1994 at the same mother house in Tanzania. Sr. Melania finished her high school in Kiraeni Girls Secondary School at Moshi and then attended the Theological Pastoral Institute in Rauya for 3 years as part of her religious formation. She then went to nursing school at Musoma Diocese in Tanzania for 3 years and became a nurse. Upon graduating she worked at Charlotte Health Center for 5 years. Sister Melania has worked as a CNA at St. Anthony Nursing Home in Carroll for 10 years since her arrival in the United States in 2006. She recently moved to Webster City where she was working at South Field Nursing Home until her illness. Sister Melania has been with the Holy Spirit Sisters Society for 35 years and celebrated her 25th Jubilee of Dedication to the Holy Society in 2011. She loved her patients and her work with the sick and the elderly. She was a prayerful person, a joyful heart, and loved to sing and dance with her fellow Sisters. She also enjoyed cooking and baking for her Sisters. Sister Melania is survived by: her mother, Dionisia Mworio Masera; three sisters: Mary, Lucia, and Oliva; two brothers, Nicholaus and Richard; many nieces, nephews, other extended relatives and her Holy Spirit Sisters. She was preceded in death by her father, John Raphael Masera; her brother, Raphael John Masera; one niece, and one nephew.