She was born on May 4, 1925 in Middletown the 10th of 11 children born to John and Mary Sora. The family lived above their father’s grocery store that they opened after immigrating from Naples, Italy.
Sora was introduced to music in the second grade at St. John the Baptist when she started music lessons with Sister Carletta Siedling. After high school in Indiana, she earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Marian (Ind.) College and completed an advanced study of piano with Madame Conus at the Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati.
She was organist and choir director at New Albany, Ind. and music teacher at St. Clement School in Cincinnati.
As a Franciscan Sister, she played the organ and directed the choir at St. John’s, and she ran bingo and saw that those in need got food and clothes. In her free time, she visited shut-ins and started a “Young at Heart” club that met monthly.
Father John Civille, completing his 29th year in Middletown, said Sora was “highly regarded and highly skilled” and always made time for others.
“Everybody loved her,” he said. “She was so generous. She would do anything for you. She had a heart of gold.”
She organized bands that played at the Cincinnati Reds Opening Days for several years and also played for President John F. Kennedy and later Bob Hope when they visited Cincinnati.
She came from a musical family with seven out of the 11 children studying music. They formed a family band as each of them played a different instrument.
Sora often said: “Nothing gives me more satisfaction than my music. It enhances my prayer and, I hope, the lives of others.”
In May 1999, she was honored with the title of Religious of the Year for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and the State of Ohio by the Knights of Columbus, Ohio State Council, at its 100th annual convention. Four years later, she received the Mary McNulty Young Award for Distinguished Achievement in Community Service at the Marian College Association Ceremony.
In 2013, she retired to Oldenburg.
Her mother had entered the convent in Italy and had to leave because of sickness in the family. Her mother felt that Jean was filling in her place in the convent, according to her obituary.
She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by sisters Julia Gray, Anna Presta, Ida Marconi, Helen Sora, Margaret Stugmyer, Geraldine Brannon, Josephine Marconi and brothers Gerardo, Bernard, and Gerard Soro.
Visitation will be from 10-11 a.m. Wednesday at the convent chapel. Funeral services follow at 11 a.m. with Civille officiating and burial will be at the convent cemetery.
For those unable to attend, services will be live-streamed at https://youtu.be/ieT4SlC0E0c.\
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