Sister Theresette Hunting was born on June 23, 1934, in New York City, New York, to Russell Emerson and Marie Helen (Murphy) Hunting. She was the youngest of four children and the only daughter. She was raised in Hasting-on-Hudson, New York. After graduating from high school in 1950, she worked for New York Life Insurance, Inc. as a secretary in the actuarial department. She also served her country by enlisting in the secretarial corps of the U.S. Naval Reserves. She was honorably discharged as a Yeoman Third Class from the Naval Reserves in 1959 while she was a novice.
Sister Theresette entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace as a postulant in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, in 1957. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Caldwell College in Caldwell, New Jersey. Certified as an elementary school teacher, Sister Theresette shared her love of music with students at St. Anne’s Elementary School in Fairlawn, New Jersey; Holy Rosary Elementary School in Edgewater, New Jersey; and St. Michael’s Novitiate in Englewood Cliffs. As a lifelong learner, she also studied music at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York, and Jersey City State College in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Sister Theresette also shared her organizational and secretarial skills with the Congregation, working in the St. Joseph Magazine correspondence office, teaching typing to novices, and acting as secretary for St. Joseph’s Home in Jersey City, New Jersey, and the Eastern Province. For more than ten years, she served as the St. Joseph Province Archivist and helped to facilitate the consolidation of the Congregation’s Archives in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
Sister Theresette died peacefully on Easter Sunday afternoon, April 5, 2026, in Hudson Villa in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. She will be missed for her deep faith, her quiet yet faithful presence in community on the St. Michael Villa Campus and her love of all creation, especially four-legged creatures with whiskers.
Sister Theresette was predeceased by her brothers Russell, Donald, and Richard Hunting. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Ute Hunting, and several nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.
A combined wake and Mass of Christian Burial was held on April 10, 2026, at St. Michael Villa, followed by interment at Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington, New Jersey.