Age 84
Sister Elaine Sova’s ring motto — “I am with you always” — resonates with the friends and family she leaves behind after her peaceful death at St. Bernardine Home in Fremont, Ohio.
Elaine was born in Detroit, Michigan, on October 10, 1942, to Elaine LeBlanc and Leonard Sova. Elaine’s family returned to Cheboygan, Michigan shortly after. She entered the Sisters of Mercy in Detroit in 1962 and professed her final vows in 1970. Elaine graduated with a B.S. in Social Science in 1967 from Mercy College of Detroit and attained an M.Ed. from Boston College in 1975.
While living in Boston, she and fellow student Sister Mary Paulita Walters, RSM explored the city during its bicentennial year and later traveled to Ireland together.
Elaine had a great love for Cheboygan and for her family, both the living and her ancestors. As an early computer adapter, she tracked her family back several generations and across national boundaries.
Elaine’s first ministries were in education. She taught at several Michigan schools including St. Ann, Cadillac; St. Mary Magdalen, Hazel Park; St. Francis, Grand Rapids; Cheboygan Catholic Jr. High; and St. Casimir, Posen.
She also served on the staff of Mercy Conference Center, Farmington Hills, and Mercy College of Detroit. Her later ministries were in Michigan hospitals including Mercy Hospital, Port Huron; Mercy Hospital, Marysville; St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Oakland, Pontiac and at the community offices in Farmington Hills where she helped many convents by installing computers and teaching the sisters to use them.
When Elaine moved to McAuley Life Center, Farmington Hills, then to The Neighborhoods of White Lake, and, finally, St. Bernardine Home, she continued a ministry of prayer and compassionate accompaniment of her elderly Sisters and some members of sisters’ families. Her merciful spirit emanated from Elaine right up to her last days.