Sister Mary Deanna

Sister Mary Deanna      ND 3770       PDF Download
Mary Anne LUTCH

Christ the King Province, Chardon, Ohio, USA

Date and Place of Birth:      August 10, 1922    Lakewood, Ohio
Date and Place of Profession: August 17, 1943    Cleveland, Ohio
Date and Place of Death:      November 13, 2014  Health Care Center, Chardon,Ohio
Date and Place of Funeral:    November 19, 2014  Provincial Center, Chardon,Ohio
Date and Place of Burial:     November 20, 2014  Resurrection Cemetery, Chardon, Ohio

Mary Anne was the oldest of the three children born to Andrew and Anna (Kandrach) Lutch. Theirs was a happy, devout Slovak family, members of St. Wendelin Parish, Cleveland, where Mary Anne received her First Holy Communion – “One of the most important days of my life.” After graduating from elementary school, Mary Anne attended Notre Dame Academy, Cleveland, as an aspirant and entered the Sisters of Notre Dame on February 2, 1941.

After profession, Sister Mary Deanna began her ministry in elementary education teaching primary and intermediate grades while continuing her college studies. She received a bachelor’s degree from St. John College, Cleveland, and then was missioned to California where she spent the next twenty-eight years teaching intermediate and junior high students. Again while teaching, she studied for and received a master’s degree from Mount St. Mary College, Los Angeles, California. One former student, now a lawyer, wrote to Sister, “I would like to ‘go on the record’ as saying one thing to you, thank you very much for your dedication and generous contribution of your time and efforts to myself and the other students during the seventh grade. Your hard work and sincerity laid the groundwork for a wonderful educational foundation….”

When Sister Mary Deanna retired from teaching, she entered into a second career of service to her sisters at the Provincial Center. Whether involved in housekeeping at the retreat center, assisting in the Health Care Center kitchen, answering the Prayer Line phone, helping sisters move into different bedrooms or her treasured ministry of sacristan, Sister was organized, hard-working and dedicated. In her most recent ministry of serving as an accomplished seamstress, she welcomed each sister and each sewing project with great love. Every stitch was a prayer! Sister enjoyed listening to classical music and loved to dance; her quick-step was sometimes hard to keep up with!

Sister Mary Deanna’s whole life—her prayer, presence, praise and service—was a wonderful reflection of the love of God within as she trusted in the goodness of her Heavenly Father. She had a very special, life-long devotion to Mary. “Our Lady, my Patron Saint for life, was my dearest friend who watched over me and led me to desire a close union with God as a Sister of Notre Dame.” The quotation chosen for her memorial card, “One only soul to one only God,” captures her essence—simple, unassuming, and prayerful. May Sister Mary Deanna now enjoy the eternal union with her Beloved that she so longed for during life. May she rest, peacefully, in His loving embrace.