Mother M. Casimir Murray, IHM
Mother M. Casimir Murray, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Saturday, February 16, 1929 at Marywood College in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
She was born on November 10, 1850, in Reading, Pennsylvania, and given the name Ellen. She was the daughter of the late James and Margaret Dolon Murray. She was baptized on November 14, 1850 by Reverend P.M. Cobbin, and her godparents were Raymond McManus and Sarah Hasson. She entered the IHM Congregation on September 29, 1868 at Reading, received the religious habit on December 3, 1868 at Reading, and professed her vows on November 22, 1870 at St. Alphonsus Convent in Susquehanna.
Mother Casimir was elected the Superior General of the Congregation in 1919 and re-elected in 1925. During her tenure, she opened 26 schools across North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Rhode Island; St. Joseph's Hospital, Carbondale, PA and St. Agnes, Elmhurst, PA (Home for aged IHMs). The following missions were also established under her leadership: Sacred Heart Elementary and High Schools, La Plata, MD and St. Joseph's, New Bern, NC.
She is preceded in death by two brothers, Charles and Peter, and a sister, Mary.
She is survived by four sisters, Catherine, Annie, Margaret, and Josephine Obold, nieces and nephews.
Interment is at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, Pennsylvania.
Memorial contributions may be made to support the retired IHM Sisters c/o the IHM Sisters Retirement Fund, IHM Center, 2300 Adams Avenue, Scranton, PA 18509.
"Mother M. Casimir had entered the congregation at Reading. She had been connected with the Scranton foundation from the beginning and was one of the original band of twelve who had elected to remain in the Scranton Diocese when the separation of the Sisterhood from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was decreed in 1871. She had filled the office of bursar during Mother Joseph's administration. In 1877 she was sent to Saint Joseph's, Williamsport, where she taught in the high school department until 1884, when she was transferred to Susquehanna and made superior of Laurel Hill Academy. Under her leadership Laurel Hill Academy reached a very high standard among the high schools of the State. Mother M. Casimir knows the congregation and is in full sympathy with its traditions and aims. She has witnessed its wonderful growth and has contributed her share to its development by her personal fidelity to her rules and obligations and her conscientious fulfillment of her duties as teacher and superior. Her election gave general satisfaction and all felt that the government and direction of the community was safe in her hands."
Excerpted from The Sisters of the I.H.M.: The Story of The Founding of The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Their Work In The Scranton Diocese by Sister M. Immaculata Gillespie, IHM, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, NY, 1921, p. 467
