Sister Mary Alice ND 5943 PDF Download
(formerly Sister Mary St. Benedict)
Alice Marie DUGAR
Immaculate Conception Province, USA
Date and Place of Birth: June 20, 1944 East Cleveland, Ohio
Date and Place of Profession: August 16, 1964 Chardon, Ohio
Date and Place of Death: March 24, 2021 Health Care Center, Chardon, Ohio
Date and Place of Burial: March 29, 2021 Resurrection Cemetery, Chardon, Ohio
“Travelling the world while staying in place.”
As children, Alice and her sister and two brothers, born to Vincent and Stella (Jursinovic) Dugar, enjoyed happy years where concern for one another was shaped and nourished. She was always grateful for her parents’ lifetime of love and sacrifice. It was in the activities with her family and friends, centered in and around their “country” home in Chesterland, Ohio, that Alice learned to appreciate and treasure the land and all of nature. When the new school opened at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Gates Mills, her parents enrolled her in the fifth grade, affirming their value of a Catholic education. Alice met the Sisters of Notre Dame, education took on a new meaning and the seeds of a religious vocation were planted. After graduation, she attended Notre Dame Academy in Cleveland as an aspirant, entered as a postulant on February 2, 1962, and at investment received the name Sister Mary St. Benedict.
Sister earned a bachelor’s degree from Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio, and a master’s degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. For over twenty years she ministered as a science and chemistry teacher at Regina High School in South Euclid, Notre Dame Academy in both Chardon and Middleburg, Virginia, and at Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin School in Chardon. After leaving the formal classroom setting, Sister Mary Alice found that her greatest strength was to minister as a chemistry tutor and mentor for college students with diverse ethnic, cultural, racial and religious backgrounds. This one-on-one involvement in the lives of her students was enriching and inspiring.
When serving students seeking careers in health-related fields at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, supervising student teachers, and managing the Chemistry Department laboratory at Notre Dame College, Sister Mary Alice stated, “I am delighted and humbled to work with adult students whose life-challenges are often compounded by additional factors foreign to me.” Her profound love for God was expressed in her respect for all.
“Each person I meet holds hope for a better future and for a life’s work that is fulfilling to themselves, their families and the larger community,” she wrote. Sister was passionate about life and conveyed a deep respect and reverence for the beauty and wonder of creation. She was a dedicated member of the SND Peace and Justice Committee since its founding in 1980 and worked with quiet determination to teach good stewardship of the Earth and all its resources.
Sister Mary Alice was a woman with a warm, expansive Christ-like heart. Gentleness and kindness were extended to everyone. With grace and graciousness she met the challenges of a cancer diagnosis just two months ago; her upbeat spirit and attitude of gratitude never wavered. God embraced Sister’s human life and gifted her with eternal life. May she rejoice in the unconditional love of our good and provident God.
by Dreamhost