“We believe that having died with Christ we shall return to
life with him” (Rom. 6:6)
Sister Mary Merdian,
S.S.M.N.
Nov. 4, 1939 – Jan. 26,
2020
Sister
Mary Merdian (Mary Adelia Merdian ), a
Sister of St. Mary of Namur, was a native of Houston, Texas. She said she was nurtured by her family, her
Catholic faith, and her parish life as well as her early education with the
Sisters of St. Mary at Resurrection School.
“Service” was a prominent word in
Mary’s life. She entered the Sisters of
St. Mary in 1957 and took the religious name of Sister Matthew Anne. At the University of Dallas, she
prepared
to become a teacher, with Math her favorite subject.
Sister Mary’s first assignments were
in the elementary schools in the Sisters of St. Mary network. She taught or was principal at St. James in
Dallas, St. Anne School in Beaumont, Sacred Heart School in Hollister, California,
John XXIII School in Dallas, St. Mary of the Assumption School in Fort Worth,
and St. Cecilia School in Dallas.
Sister Mary was appointed Provincial
Superior of the Western Province, which included convents and schools in both
Texas and California, in 1978 and served two terms.
In 1984 she returned to education
work at St. Andrew School in Fort Worth, where she served
as Assistant Principal under Oblate Clarice Peninger, who was Principal.
Community life was a vital part of
Sister Mary’s life–sharing in community life as an assistant on the Provincial
Council and growing in the Holy Spirit.
Leadership was one of her great
gifts both as the Provincial Superior of the Western Province and as a member
of the General Council on the international level. It was there that she met and influenced many
of the Sisters in the other countries.
As she said in one of her articles,
“…our life is an endeavor to live in the simplicity and joy of the God we
serve. It was that simplicity and joy
that I encountered as a child, and since have seen in so many of our sisters.”
Sister is survived by her sister
Frances and her brother John and his wife Linda, and several nephews and nieces, as well as all the
Sisters of our congregation who knew her and loved her..
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