Sister M. Stella O'Malley, IHM
Sister M. Stella O'Malley, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Tuesday, January 30, 1912 at St. Patrick's Convent in Olyphant, Pennsylvania. She was in the thirty-first year of religious profession.
She was born on March 25, 1854 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and given the name Mary. She was the daughter of the late Thomas and Ann Cannon O'Malley. She entered the IHM Congregatioon July 22, 1881, received the religious habit on November 15, 1881, and made profession of her vows on September 5, 1883.
Sister M. Stella served in child care for the resident children at St. Patrick's Orphanage in Scranton, PA, from 1883 to 1889. She also served as a teacher at St. John the Evangelist School in Pittston, PA; and St. Patrick School in Olyphant, PA.
She is preceded death by a brother, John, and a sister, Mrs. P. H. Gilgallon.
She is survived by four sisters, Sister M. Raphael, IHM, Sister M. Mercedes, IHM, Miss Kate G. O'Malley, and Miss Nellie O'Malley.
Interment is at the Marywood College Cemetery, on the grounds of Marywood College in Scranton, 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.
Wilkes-Barre Times Leader Jan 31 1912:
Sister Mary Stella, who was Miss O'Malley of Capouse Ave Scranton died yesterday in St. Patrick Convent Olyphant. She was the daughter of Mrs Thomas O'Malley of Scranton. She is survived by four sisters Sister Mary Mercedes of Mt. St Mary Seminary; Sister Mary Raphael of Hazelton; Miss Kate G. O'Malley and Miss Nellie O'Malley. Services in the chapel of Mt. St. Mary, interment Mt. St Mary cemetery
"Reverend Andrew Pavco, a holy and zealous Slovak priest, and pastor of the Holy Family Church in Scranton, had opened a school in the basement of the church for the children of the parish and with the consent of the Bishop applied to Mother Mary for Sisters to take charge of the school. The poverty of the devoted priest as well as the urgent need of the little ones of his flock made its appeal. Sister M. Stella was appointed to take charge of the school. When Father Pavco was transferred to Saint John the Baptist Church in Pittston, he soon found ways and means to open a school for the children of his new parish, though again no better place offered itself than the basement of the church. Sister M. Stella was sent to Pittston and took charge of the new school, which is directly opposite Saint John's Convent. Here Sister Stella remained one year and then was sent to open a new Slovak school in Olyphant."
"Sister M. Stella in the Slovak school of the parish of the Holy Ghost, Olyphant, labored most successfully for eight years, and had the pleasure of seeing the school increase in numbers. It soon outgrew the basement of the church, and before her death she had the satisfaction of seeing three hundred Slovak children occupying a thoroughly modem building. Her holy death occurred at Saint Patrick's Convent, Olyphant, on January 30, 1912, after thirty-one years of faithful service in the religious life. Sister M. Stella O'Malley entered the novitiate at Saint Rose's, Carbondale, in July, 1881. Six years of her religious life were spent in the orphanage at Saint Patrick's. In 1889, she was transferred to Saint Cecilia's, where her mission among the Slovaks began. Sister M. Stella may be called the "Pioneer of the Slovak Mission." It was for her a work of predilection. She had a true mother's heart, and watched over her little ones with motherly solicitude. During the winter she was in the habit of gathering all the newspapers she could lay her hands on. The Sisters often wondered what became of the accumulation. The secret was out when one of them saw her on a cold winter's evening lining with these same newspapers the thin coats and jackets of her little Slovak pupils. The grief of these children and their parents on the day of her funeral was an eloquent testimony to the love and veneration in which they held this devoted teacher and friend."
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. 356, 357
