Age 93
Sister Grace’s charm and spiritual charism made her an integral part of the lives of the Sisters of Mercy wherever she lived and worked.
Born in Henderson, Texas, her family traveled extensively with her father’s company but finally found their home in Columbus, Georgia. She first encountered the Sisters of Mercy as a student at Mt. de Sales High School in Macon, Georgia. Spirited by the love and devotion of the sisters, upon her high school graduation, in 1951, she entered the Sisters of Mercy in Baltimore, Maryland.
She held a bachelor’s degree in education from Mount St. Agnes College in Baltimore, Maryland, and a master’s degree in religious education and Scripture from Catholic University in Washington, D.C. She also did post-graduate work at Fordham University in New York City.
Initially an educator, she taught for 27 years at schools in the Baltimore, Maryland; Savannah, Georgia; and Washington, D.C. dioceses. She also served as the director of postulants at Mount St. Agnes Novitiate in Mount Washington, Maryland for five years. Grace served as principal at St. Mary’s School in Rockville, Maryland, and her alma mater, Mt. de Sales Middle School in Macon, Georgia. For four years, she served on the Baltimore Regional Community leadership team. For six years she ministered as the vice-president for mission effectiveness at St. Joseph’s Chandler Hospital in Savannah, Georgia. Once more the classroom called to her and she returned to Columbus, Georgia, and taught at Pacelli High School.
Grace was awarded the National Forensic League Degree of Excellence; a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship at Louisiana State University; and the Georgia Association for Independent Schools Distinguished Service Award. She was also known for being the community historian for the Columbus community.
Never one to decline an adventure, in 2015, at the invitation of Douglas Brooks, a former student at Mt. DeSales and advisor to President Obama, Grace Marie went to the White House to meet Pope Francis. Grace “adventured” far and wide once retired, visited Italy and Dublin, Ireland, and Baggot Street where Catherine McAuley founded the Sisters of Mercy.