Sister Ruth Mary ND 4645 PDF Download
(formerly Sister Mary Judith Ann)
Ruth Mary PERL
(natural sister of Sister Mary Lawrene ,+ 1998; Sister Mary Paulanne, + 2011; Sister Rita Mary)
Immaculate Conception Province, USA
Date and Place of Birth: October 22, 1935 Massillon, Ohio
Date and Place of Profession: August 16, 1955 Cleveland, Ohio
Date and Place of Death: December 29, 2021 University Hospitals Geauga Medical Center, Chardon, Ohio
Date and Place of Funeral: January 12, 2022 Provincial Center, Chardon, Ohio
Date and Place of Burial: January 13, 2022 Resurrection Cemetery, Chardon, Ohio
One only soul to one only God!
Ruth and her twin sister, Rita, were the youngest of the three boys and six girls born to Leo and Mary Anne (Hohneck) Perl. The children were close in age and bonded by their strong faith and love for each other. Ruth attended St. Mary Elementary School in Massillon, staffed by the Sisters of Notre Dame. She participated enthusiastically in as many school and parish activities as possible. In the eighth grade Ruth realized her desire to follow in the footsteps of her two older sisters and become a religious. She was admitted as an aspirant to Notre Dame Academy in Cleveland and entered as a postulant on February 2, 1953. At investment she received the name Sister Mary Judith Ann.
Sister received a bachelor’s degree in education from St. John College in Cleveland and a master’s degree from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. In 1977, she earned an Advanced Catechetical Diploma from Notre Dame Institute in Middleburg, Virginia. As a teacher of intermediate and junior high students for thirty-six years, her creativity and artistic talent kept lessons interesting and student-centered. Although Sister found it challenging, she loved teaching; she was approachable, competent and had a quiet sense of humor.
After retiring from formal classroom teaching, Sister Ruth Mary served for twenty-two years as receptionist and coordinator of the after-school program at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Raleigh, North Carolina. She was a good listener and reached out to all – students, parents, teachers, parishioners. Time stood still as she listened and related to others. Age or importance were never determining factors. Sister wrote, “I love the feeling of being loved by God and of being able to share the experience of his goodness.”
In 2016 Sister retired and returned to the Chardon Provincial Center. She participated in the Prayer Line ministry and continued outreach as an aide at St. Helen School, Newbury. Sister Ruth Mary was a woman of prayer with a heart for others. She immersed herself in community activities but always had time to visit and celebrate events with Sister Rita Mary and their very large family, to whom she was especially devoted.
It was during the octave of Christmas that God embraced the human life of Sister Ruth Mary and gifted her with eternal life. Sister’s sudden and unexpected death shocked and saddened her family, her Sisters and all with whom she had ministered. May she rest in the arms of our good and loving God.
by Dreamhost