Sister Jeanne Albrittain, IHM
Sister Jeanne Albrittain, IHM, (formerly known as Sister M. Anton) of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Sunday, July 23, 2023, at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton, PA.
She was born on February 21, 1933, in Leonardtown, MD. She was the daughter of the late Henry and Leona Steiner Albrittain. She entered the IHM Congregation on September 8, 1951, made her temporary profession of vows on August 2, 1954, and her final profession of vows on August 2, 1957. Sister Jeanne received a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education, and a Master of Science degree in elementary education, both from Marywood College.
Sister Jeanne served as a teacher in the following schools: St. Ambrose Elementary School in Bridgeport, CT, from 1954 to 1957; St. Agnes Elementary School in Baltimore, MD, from 1957 to 1967; Cathedral Elementary School in Raleigh, NC, from 1970 to 1972; Our Lady of Mount Carmel Elementary School in Altoona, PA, from 1972 to 1976; Little Flower Elementary School in Bethesda, MD, from 1976 to 1981; and Archbishop Neale Elementary School in La Plata, MD, from 1981 to 1989 and 1992 to 1993.
Sister served as principal at Saints Philip and James Elementary School in Smithtown, NY, from 1967 to 1970.
Sister Jeanne also served as director of religious education and as a pastoral associate at St. Anthony Parish in North Beach, MD, from 1989 to 1992; director of religious education and minister to the sick and homebound at Saints Catherine and Ignatius Parish in Port Tobacco, MD, from 1993 to 2000. She was a certified nurse’s aide and served at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton from 2001 to 2020. She also served on the support staff at the IHM Center in Scranton from 2020 to 2022.
From 2022 until the time of her death, Sister Jeanne was a prayer minister at Our Lady of Peace Residence.
She was preceded in death by three sisters, Doris Ballagh, Julia Anne Ventrello Jones and Shirley Garner, and a brother, Henry, Jr.
Sister Jeanne is survived by two sisters, Mary Lee Jones of LaPlata, MD, and Joan Marie Richardson of LaPlata, MD, nieces and nephews, and grandnieces and grandnephews. She is also survived by the members of the IHM Congregation.
The funeral will be Monday, August 7, at 11:00 a.m. with Mass of Christian Burial at Our Lady of Peace Residence, 1510 University Avenue in Dunmore, PA. Friends may call at Our Lady of Peace Residence on Monday, August 7, between 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. A prayer service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow Mass on Monday at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, PA.
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/132955269
Sister Jeanne Albrittain, IHM Funeral - August 7, 2023
Reflection given by Sister Kathleen Burns, IHM
In a recent article, entitled Learning from the Radiant Presence of Jesus, Sister Carol Higgins, a Sister of the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary, wrote “I deeply believe that one of the greatest gifts we give to the world today is the gift of our presence. Our most important mission as women religious [may be] how we present ourselves to the people in our lives … We know that to be the loving presence of Christ in today’s world means to break open our hearts to all of creation, and to all of humanity.”
I think this “ Radiant presence” very much describes our dear sister, Jeanne.
She was an unassuming, gentle, soft-spoken woman. She might not always have a lot to say, but she was a deeply loving and devoted Sister, Servant of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She served as an elementary school teacher, a principal, a religious educator, a pastoral associate, a nurse’s aide, and a prayer minister. She shared the love of God through her presence wherever she was and whatever she did. She was always ready to lend a hand. And she had that radiant smile.
Jeanne was a member of our Tierra Maria mission group/circle since it began In the 1990s, or as I like to say, back in the last century. In the beginning, most of our members lived in the Baltimore/Washington area while Jeanne and I lived in Scranton. We frequently traveled together for the meetings, most frequently held on Kent Island in the Chesapeake Bay. During our travels, she often spoke of her family and life in and love ofMaryland and of the sisters she cared for at Our Lady of Peace Residence.
She told me about how for her 75th birthday her family surprised her with something she always wanted to do: a hot air balloon ride. She really enjoyed that. It was a wonderful, memorable experience.
Jeanne enjoyed playing cards. After our mission meetings, many of us would stay overnight at the house on Kent Island that we borrowed from the Baltimore Franciscan Sisters, and we enjoyed playing games together. Jeanne was not so much interested in Scrabble, but she loved playing cards and we often played 13 and Phase 10. More often than not I found myself receiving the cards she discarded, and I would sometimes pretend to telegraph the cards I needed to her telepathically. I’d scrunch up my forehead and put my fingers there and say, “I’m sending you what I need. Jeanne, give me what I need!” and she’d laugh. We rarely made that psychic connection, and I rarely got the cards I was looking for from her. But then, every so often she’d get a little bit of a wicked smile on her face as she pluncked down a certain card and said, “Skip you!” She would never telegraph her status, but would simply win the hand (and often the game) by turning her cards over with a smile when we least expected it.
Jeanne loved nature and growing things. Every summer the tables that IHM Center have been graced by the fruits of her and her partner, Sr Mary Ann Remus’s,’ labor. I know more than one sister who will be missing her fresh tomatoes!
Jeanne, we will miss you. Thank you for the gift of your presence as IHM sister. Thank you for breaking open your heart to all of creation and all of humanity and for being a radiant, loving presence of Christ in our midst.
