Sr. Francis Xavier Porter, OSU, died peacefully at Peace Hospice in Great Falls, MT on March 9, 2022. She was born Frances Maxwell Porter on July 28, 1928, to James and Frances Courtney Porter. Her early education was at St. Mary’s School and Ursuline Academy in Great Falls. She entered the Roman Union of Ursuline Nuns on July 16, 1949, in Festus, MO. She received a BA from the College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY, an MA from the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, and an MSA from the University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.
Sr. Francis began her teaching career in 1952, at the Ursuline Academy, Great Falls followed by St. Paul’s in Anaconda, MT, Great Falls Catholic Central High School, St. John’s Ursuline High School, San Francisco, CA, Cardinal Newman High School, Santa Rosa, CA. She served as Vice-Principal and Principal at St. John’s High School, San Francisco, CA, St. Mary’s Mission High School, St. Mary’s AK, Ursuline High School, Santa Rosa, CA, Ursuline Primary School, Great Falls, MT.
In addition to school administration, she was the local Superior at the Ursuline Centre, as well as Great Falls and Provincial Superior of Ursuline Western Province. Following her retirement, Sr. Francis returned to the Ursuline Centre in Great Falls, MT where she organized, catalogued, and digitalized historically important archives dating from the early 1880s of the Ursuline Missions and foundations in Montana, Washington, Alaska, and Idaho, among many other things.
To read the complete obituary and share condolences, visit the Schnider Funeral Home website.
