BRAINTREE -- After years of service in education, principals of seven Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Boston have announced their retirement following the 2016- 2017 school year.

In her June 23 Weekly Memo that announced the retirements, superintendent of Catholic Schools Kathy Mears wrote "All of you will be greatly missed. I am happy for you that you will have an opportunity to spend time with family, travel, or just live at a less-hectic pace, but I am sad that we will no longer work together!"

"I am profoundly grateful to all of you for your cheerful help over the past 2.5 years. I have leaned heavily on some of you as I learned the ins and outs of the archdiocese and I will miss you all!" she continued. "May God bless you abundantly for your servant leadership."

The retirees are:

Mary Lanata, St. Patrick School, Roxbury -- Lanata served as principal at the school for 11 years. Prior to that, she was principal of St. Matthew School in Iowa. In all, she has spent 47 years in the field of Catholic education.

Mike McCabe, St. Mary School, Winchester -- McCabe is retiring after 43 years of working in education. He worked in Arlington Public Schools for 36 years, and served as principal of St. Mary School for seven.

Bob Penta, St. Agnes School, Arlington -- Penta served as principal of St. Agnes School for the last seven years. Prior to that, he had been a teacher and principal in Reading, Gloucester, and Arlington, as well as in Dorchester, where he was principal of the Dorchester Central Campus at Pope John Paul II Catholic Academy.

Lynne Workman, Holy Name Parish School, West Roxbury -- For 32 years, Workman served Holy Name Parish School. She began her career at the school as a classroom teacher of grades three and five, and served the last 17 years as principal. Workman is responsible for establishing the first kindergarten program at the school, and opened its Early Childhood Center.

Maryann Manfredonia, East Boston Central Catholic School, East Boston -- Manfredonia has a long career in Catholic education, having served in the field for a total of 46 years. For 10 of those years, she was vice-principal of East Boston Central Catholic School before serving as principal for 29 years.

Mary Reardon, Immaculate Conception School, Newburyport -- A career educator, Reardon began working in Catholic schools in the 1970s in Indiana. She served as principal of Immaculate Conception School for the past 11 years, and prior to that worked at a number of Christian schools.

Jane Abel, Monsignor Haddad Middle School, Needham -- Abel has served Catholic education in the archdiocese for 33 years, with the last 12 of them being at Monsignor Haddad Middle School, where she was both principal and head of school. The school established the Abel-McAnulty Scholarship in honor of her service and the service of Kathleen McAnulty, a resource teacher also retiring this year.

John Giuggio, Trinity Catholic Academy, Brockton -- Giuggio served as the school's Upper Campus principal since 2014. Prior to that, he held a number of administrative and teaching positions in Randolph Public Schools and Easton Public Schools, and has served as an adjunct instructor in the education department at Stonehill College.

Mary Hamelin, Country Day School of the Holy Union, Groton -- Hamelin was principal of Country Day School of the Holy Union for the past four years, having worked as coordinator of curriculum and professional development before that. Additionally, for more than 15 years she taught middle school science at the school.