Age 88
A beloved friend, guide, counselor, and mentor to so many over her 70 years of ministry, Sister Marianne had the God-given talent of a beautiful singing voice.
She was awarded a full scholarship in music to Mary Manse College in Toledo, Ohio, but much to her father’s dismay, she chose to join the Sisters of Mercy in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she shared her musical expertise for 70 years.
For 17 years, she ministered in the classrooms of a number of diocesan parish schools in the Toledo, Ohio, diocese as teacher and then as principal of St. Peter School in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, for eight years. She was then asked to take on the principalship and counseling responsibilities at a school in Johnson City, Tennessee, for ten years. She enjoyed her new surroundings enabling her to camp and hike the foothills of the Smokey Mountains.
She returned to Ohio in 1987 to become director of Our Lady of the Pines Retreat Center in Fremont, Ohio. She brought in new programs, building renovations, a new spirit of hospitality, and plans for small cottage-like hermitages. Ever so proud of her Italian heritage, she enlisted the help of family members to cook and serve gourmet spaghetti dinners as fundraisers over several years.
After her 22 years committed to the Pines she resigned from the directorship and continued her ministry of spiritual direction from her home on the grounds, eventually moving to St. Bernardine Home in 2015. Her last seven years she increasingly lost her memory. Despite that, she never lost her welcoming and gentle spirit, always calling others by endearing names, even not knowing who they were but grateful for their care and presence.