Sister Carol Sukitz, IHM
Sister Carol Sukitz, IHM, (formerly known as Sister Marie Elizabeth) of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Wednesday, July 4, 2018, Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton.
She was born on February 28, 1946 in Pittsburgh, PA. She was the daughter of the late Harry and Elizabeth Roll Sukitz. She entered the IHM Congregation on September 8, 1964 and made her temporary profession of vows on June 26, 1967 and her final profession of vows on September 9, 1972.
Sister Carol served as a teacher in the following schools: Academia Cristo Rey in Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 1969 to 1970; St. Mary High School in Manhasset, NY, from 1970 to 1973; and Bishop O’Hara High School in Dunmore, PA, from 1973 to 1975.
She also served as a social worker at the Diocese of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA, from 1976 to 1983; parish social service worker at St. Sebastian Parish in Pittsburgh, PA, from 1976 to 1981; director of parish services at Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, PA, from 1983 to 1995; deputy director at Ministry of Caring in Wilmington, DE, from 1995 to 2003; program manager at Step by Step in Pittsburgh, PA, from 2004 to 2005; social worker at Ashbury Heights Retirement Community in Pittsburgh, PA, from 2005 to 2011; social worker at St. Barnabas, Inc. in Gibsonia, PA, from 2011 to 2012; social worker at UPMC/Jefferson Regional Home Health in Seven Fields, PA, from 2012 to 2017.
From 2017 until the time of her death, Sister Carol was a prayer minister at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton.
She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics/education, and a Master of Social Work degree from Marywood College and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh.
She is preceded in death by a brother, Robert Philips Sukitz.
She is survived by cousins and by the members of the IHM Congregation.
The funeral will be Tuesday, July 10, at 7:00 p.m. with Mass of Christian Burial at the IHM Center, 2300 Adams Avenue in Scranton. Friends may call at the IHM Center on Tuesday, July 10, between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Interment will be at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, PA, on Wednesday, July 11, at 10:00 a.m.
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.
Funeral: https://video.ibm.com/recorded/116041979
Reprinted from "In Memoriam" section of Journey, Fall 2018 issue
Reflection given by Sister Ellen Maroney, IHM Congregation President
Sister Carol Sukitz, Funeral July 10, 2018
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.”
These were Jesus’ words to his disciples as he was preparing them for his return to the Father and they are words of encouragement for us in the face of loss, in the face of death. They came to me almost immediately last Tuesday when Carol died. Her suffering in these past weeks was apparent to all despite her efforts to remain strong, and it was the prayer for peace we all wished for her. It also happened to be July 4th, Independence Day, and that fact seemed a bit too coincidental, especially for those who knew Carol and how strongly she valued independence (and control) in her own life. In fact, I have no doubt that at any moment she is going to pull the plug on this mic because I’m talking too long.
Carol lived and ministered among us as an IHM for fifty-one years. She taught in schools in Puerto Rico, New York, and Pennsylvania. She enjoyed her students and her commitment to social justice awakened in them a desire to reach out to those in need too. She earned her degree in social work and ministered as such at parishes and retirement communities in Pittsburgh and at UPMC/Jefferson Regional Home Health System. She became director of parish services at Pittsburgh’s Catholic Charities, deputy director at Ministry of Caring in Wilmington, DE, and program manager at Step by Step in Pittsburgh. In each of these ministries, Carol reached out to the most fragile in our society with energy and empathy and a determination to get things done for and with them. She was a caring presence for many, often in times of distress and tragedy. For this past year, Carol served as a prayer minister at Our Lady of Peace Residence.
Carol’s passion and determination to make a difference in our world were in her DNA. Jane Snyder shared that after the shootings at Parkland High School, Carol made calls to the members of Congress. She asked each one if he/she received any donations from the NRA. If any answered ‘yes,’ she asked when he/she was going to return that money. She called over 200 representatives. Jane also shared that as avid Jeopardy fans, she and Carol set off one Friday evening from Wilmington to go to Atlantic City to try out to be a contestant for the show. They each took their turn for the 60 second quiz, then went to the casino to wait to see if they would be chosen. While they never received the call, they did manage to spend all their money on the slots before returning home. However, they did make a pledge to try to go to California for a week or so and keep trying to make it on any game show they could get on!
Today we join our prayers with and for Carol’s cousin, Marie, and all her relatives, her IHM band members and friends, the sisters at Our Lady of Peace, especially those in Household Four B, and all who knew and cared for Carol. We remember in prayer her deceased parents, Elizabeth and Harry, as well as her brother, Robert.
We celebrate and give thanks today for Carol’s life among us. She challenged and pushed us, disturbed and stretched us. Her compassion for the most vulnerable softens our hearts; her searching for life’s meaning through service to others opens for us the heart that drew others in and ever closer to God; her illness reminds us that we have a limited time on this earth to make some little bit of difference and now is that time; her woundedness calls us to a deep awareness of God’s love and mercy in our own lives and assures us that despite our own fragility, we can each make a distinctive contribution to our world that is good and sacred. We are forever changed and forever grateful that Carol was in our lives.
The gift of life Carol shared with our world was a reflection of her love for God’s presence and goodness in her life despite times of personal struggle and loss. We celebrate and give thanks for her courage and her steadfastness. The ancient Greeks didn’t write obituaries, they only asked one question after a person died: ‘Did he/she have passion?’ because that was the mark of a person whose life was well spent. Carol was a woman of unsurpassed passion! I pray this prayer of Jan Richardson entitled, “In the Leaving”:
In the leaving,
In the letting go,
let there be this
to hold onto
at the last:
the enduring love
the persisting hope,
the remembering of joy,
the offering of gratitude,
the receiving of grace,
the blessing of peace.
Sister Joan Bastress will now place the scriptures on Carol’s casket, for indeed she heard the Word of God, she staked her life upon it and received life to the full . . . the Word now beckons Carol home.
