Sister Mary Charlita

Sister  Mary  Charlita                     ND  3776                      PDF Download
Mary Merrill SLOUGH

Christ the King Province, Chardon, Ohio, USA

Date and Place of Birth:  July 26, 1923     Beaver, Pennsylvania
Date and Place of Profession: August 17, 1944   Cleveland, Ohio
Date and Place of Death:   January 14, 2017 Health Care Center, Chardon, Ohio
Date and Place of Funeral:   January 19, 2017 Provincial Center, Chardon, Ohio
Date and Place of Burial:  January 19, 2017   Resurrection Cemetery, Chardon, Ohio

“You are God, my Savior. I hope in you all day long.” 

Mary was the second of five children born to Robert and Mildred (Kimbel) Slough. Because of her father’s work as manager of several newspapers, Mary’s childhood was spent in many towns in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Throughout life she was characterized by her ability to adapt and her love for learning. Even as a child, Mary had a variety of interests, always questioning and exploring the how and why of everything.

She attended Notre Dame Academy, Cleveland, in eighth and ninth grade and graduated from Catholic High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Three months later, she reconnected in mind and heart with the Sisters of Notre Dame when she entered as a postulant on September 8, 1941. At investment, she received the name Sister Mary Charlita.

Sister earned a bachelor’s degree in education from St. John College, Cleveland, and a master’s degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She taught intermediate and junior high students for twenty years, often as a demonstration teacher directing student teachers. As principal and local superior for the next fifteen years, Sister Mary Charlita used her indomitable and determined spirit to guide and challenge students and teachers alike.

In 1979 Sister embraced the ministry of Director of Religious Education. She obtained a master’s degree in religious studies from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and drew from the well of her own deep prayer life and Sacred Scripture for subject matter. Whether preparing children for the sacraments, meeting with parents or training catechists, Sister Mary Charlita was a channel of God’s grace and a witness to the power of God’s love. As coordinator of the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults program, it was her great joy to accompany those being received into the Church at Easter. When she retired from parish ministry she could often be found praying by name for the catechumens and candidates from nearby parishes.

Sister Mary Charlita remained a child at heart all her life. Her simplicity, her quest for knowledge and her love of reading never left her. There was always more to learn, especially because this drive to study and learn was centered in Jesus Christ. She was a woman of prayer and action, eager to grow in the love between Jesus and herself. These latest years of declining health were challenging. Sister’s energetic spirit became bound by physical limitations. She increased in wisdom and grace, ever more dependent on God’s goodness and provident care. May Sister Mary Charlita rest in the arms of her Beloved—her quest now complete.