(May 9, 1922 - January 31, 2015)
Word has been received of the death of Sister Harriet Marie (St. Marie), who died at 10:25 a.m. on Saturday, January 31, 2015, in Saint Mary’s Convent, Notre Dame, Indiana.
Adapting to change became a part of Sister Harriet Marie’s life at an early age. By the time she graduated from high school she had already attended four different schools in three different states. However, the childhood dream of someday becoming a Sister of the Holy Cross and working in a hospital setting was steadfast. Though, as she recalls, her first encounter with a Holy Cross sister was from “behind my mother and a big chair” when her mother took her two little girls to enroll as boarders in Saint Mary of the Wasatch, Salt Lake City, Utah. Harriet held on to that dream until it became a reality in 1941 when she connected with Sister Ellenita, CSC, who helped her with her preparation for entrance. Even this encounter was somewhat unusual since her introduction to Sister Ellenita, the principal of St. Paul’s School in Los Angeles, California, was only by correspondence. The Lord really must have wanted her to become a Sister of the Holy Cross since he led her there by way of such a circuitous route.
During her 74 years as a Sister of the Holy Cross, Sister Harriet Marie was called to minister in a wide variety of roles and living arrangements. Her first 24 years began as a primary teacher in the elementary schools of the West, where she was assigned to six different schools in quick succession, spending just one or two years in each place. However, she was able to enjoy some degree of stability when in 1955 she went to St. Pius School in Redwood City, California, for six years, followed by another six years at St. Philip Neri School in Lynwood, California.
Then Sister Harriet Marie’s life took a turn that came as a result of the directives of the Second Vatican Council, which impacted the remaining 30 years of her ministry and challenged her flexibility as she moved from one assignment to the next in ancillary services in the congregation. Her friend, Sister Dolores Jean Bray, CSC, wrote, “After Vatican II Sister Harriet Marie felt more comfortable outside the classroom because she was drawn by her compassion and concern for senior citizens with home healthcare needs.” This had its own difficulties at the time, since home care for the sick and elderly often meant nighttime vigils, which conflicted with a regular schedule of prayer and meals in the local community. This was a small cross Sister Harriet Marie was willing to bear to be true to her compassionate nature in caring for the elderly.
However, in 1971 she was assigned to Saint Catherine’s by the Sea in Ventura, California, where under the tutelage of Sister M. Xavier, CSC, Sister Harriet finally was able to be in community and doing what she wanted most — to minister to the elderly, in this case, to her own Sisters of the Holy Cross in retirement. Here she received a certificate as a long-term nursing assistant and home health aide for the state of California. Sister Harriet Marie’s time at Saint Catherine’s provided her with many opportunities to learn new skills that she could put to good use for the next few years when she worked in home health care and also in parish ministry to the ageing at Sacred Heart Parish in Covina, California.
In 1987 Sister Harriet Marie returned to Saint Catherine’s for her final ministry years before retiring to Saint Mary’s in 2007. After years of working in various missions and ministries that tested the flexibility of this dedicated religious, she remained faithful to the end where she no doubt was greeted by the many she served. May Sister Harriet Marie rest in peace.