Obituary

 

Sister Mary Norbert Bergen, IHM

Sister Mary Norbert Bergen, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Monday, December 21, 1953.  

She was born on August 6, 1868 in Jersey City, New Jersey, and given the name Ann. She was the daughter of the late Michael and Catherine O'Reilly Bergen.   She entered the IHM Congregation on May 3, 1889, received the religious habit on October 3, 1889, and made profession of her vows on August 2, 1891.

Sister Mary Norbert enjoyed her years teaching children in our IHM mission schools, including St. Paul in Scranton, PA, and St. Patrick in Olyphant, PA.

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.


"Three new missions were opened during these years. Saint Paul's in Green Ridge was opened in 1892; Saint Patrick's Olyphant, in 1893, and Saint Alphonsus', the first western mission, at Tillamook, Oregon, in 1897. 

Saint Paul's was opened in August by Sister M. Antoinette as Superior, with Sister M. Carmel, Sister M. Agnes, Sister M. Clotilde, Sister M. Norbert, Sister M. Oswald, Sister M. Louise, and Sister M. William as her assistants."

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. 250


"The following Sisters opened the school: Sister M. Lucy, Superior, Sister M. Ligouri, Sister M. Hilarion, Sister M. Clementine, Sister M. Martha, Sister M. Scholastica, Sister M. Norbert, Sister M. Louise, and Sister M. William. God has blessed Saint Patrick's in a singular manner. It has prospered from the beginning and has attracted many students from the towns about Olyphant till at present it has an enrollment of over three hundred students, and a high school of the first class according to the Pennsylvania Bureau."

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. 253