Beltran was born Rosarie Beltran on March 25, 1925, and grew up in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[1] Beltran was the eldest of eight children and was the sister of the Archbishop Eusebius J. Beltran.[1] She attended St. Leo's School in Ashley, Pennsylvania.[2]
Afterward, she attended Marymount High School and planned to become a nun after graduation.[3] Beltran became part of the Bernadine Franciscan Sisters in 1944.[4] In 1964, she graduated from College Misericordia and also became a registered nurse.[5][4] She began to work with people with disabilities in the area.[1]
Beltran went to Liberia as a missionary in 1970.[6] She started working in Cape Palmas at a clinic for the poor.[7][4] In 1977, she left Liberia because of her macular degeneration and returned after treatment in 1986.[7]
In 1989, Beltran and her students were forcibly relocated to the Ivory Coast after she was involved in a confrontation between soldiers in the First Liberian Civil War.[5] Later in 1989, she founded a new center.[4] She and the children were in exile in the Ivory Coast for around five years.[1] While in exile, she contacted Muhammad Ali for help in donations for the children in her care.[8] In 1997, he came to San Pedro to deliver supplies and food to the 105 children who were staying at the Centre Bon Berger Catholic Mission.[8]
Beltran bought 13 acres of land where she built a small community called Our Lady of Fatima Rehabilitation Facility near Monrovia that included a school, clinic and chapel.[6] It was opened in 1998 and the children that had been displaced to the Ivory Coast were returned to Liberia.[4][9] The facility was created to provide education and care to displaced or abandoned young people and people with disabilities.[5][4]
Beltran retired from her work after becoming fully blind in 2007.[3] In order to continue the work she started, the Jerry Cebulski African Disability Foundation (JCADF) was created. Beltran came back to the United States and moved into St. Joseph's Villa, a retirement home for Bernadine Sisters in Reading, Pennsylvania.[2]
Beltran died on April 6, 2016, in Reading, at the age of 91.[3] JCADF continues to operate in Liberia, providing food, supplies and assistive devices for people with disabilities.[10]