September 8, 2019 - "Sister Marcella Missar, SND"

On Wednesday, August 28, 2019, I received the sad news that Sr. Marcella Marie Missar, SND, who turned 92 on April 7, 2019, had died at the Notre Dame Health Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 9, 2019.  Sr. Marcella had been in religious life for seventy-six years.  She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews in Philadelphia, Dover, Baltimore, and Colorado.  Her obituary notice published on Philly.com on August 13, 2019 mentions that she taught Religion and was head of the Music Department at Notre Dame High School in Moylan, PA.  The obituary notice also mentions that she was DRE at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Wilmington, DE and in St. Luke/St. Andrew Parish in Ocean City, MD.  Because of a limited amount of space obituary notices often omit details about the life of the deceased.  For our purposes, the obituary notice did not mention any of her service to the people of the Archdiocese of Washington.  Sr. Marcella served for a time at Our Lady of the Visitation Parish in Darnestown, was DRE at St. Bartholomew Parish in Bethesda, MD, and was a Pastoral Assistant here at St. Francis of Assisi Parish for a number of years about twenty years ago.
 
I did not have the good fortune to work with Sr. Marcella as she had moved on by the time I became Pastor in 2013.  I did have the occasion to mention her passing to a number of parishioners.  Here are remarks that I received from various members of the parish.
 
One parishioner told me the following:  “Given that I am not a cradle Catholic and came into the Church as an adult, Sr. Marcella was really my first introduction to nuns.  After I came into the Church, I was on a couple of ministries with her, and I always enjoyed our interaction.  She served to encourage me in my new Catholic faith and to be active.”
 
Another person said this to me about her:  “Everyone seems to regard Marcella similarly...kind and joyful.  She was indeed a talented individual who loved many people and embraced the folks wherever she was ministering.”  
 
A Sister of Notre Dame with whom I worked in a previous parish told me that she first met Sr. Marcella in the early 1970s at Notre Dame High School in Moylan, PA.  My friend told me that she was teaching Religion, General Science, Algebra, and Biology while Sr. Marcella was in charge of the 100 piece full orchestra for the school of 1,600 high school girls!  Sr. Marcella also played the piano and the flute.  My friend said that Sr. Marcella was an extremely talented musician.  I learned from her that Sr. Marcella had a heart disease as a child and lived with this for most of her life.  Sr. Marcella went to the Notre Dame Health Care Center with her good friend Sr. Marie-Louise Rossi.  Long-time parishioners may also remember Sr. Marie-Louise, who was an Administrative Assistant in the Parish Office in 2003.
 
The Funeral Mass for Sr. Marcella took place in the chapel of the Notre Dame Health Center in Cincinnati.  She was buried in the cemetery that the Notre Dame Sisters have there in Cincinnati. Well done, good and faithful servant!  May you, dear Sr. Marcella, rest now from your labors!  May you rest in peace!
 
Until next week,
Fr. John