Sister Michlyn Grella, IHM
Sister Michlyn Grella, IHM, (formerly known as Sister M. Francis deSales) of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Tuesday, December 15, 2015, at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
She was born on April 1, 1931, in Hempstead, NY. She was the daughter of the late Michael and Teresa Grella Grella. She entered the IHM Congregation on February 2, 1950, made temporary profession of her vows on August 2, 1952, and final profession of her vows on August 2, 1955.
Sister Michlyn served as a teacher at the following schools: Sacred Heart Elementary School in Mount Holly, NJ, from 1952 to 1964; Our Lady of Peace Elementary School in Clarks Green, PA, from 1964 to 1966; Holy Name of Jesus Elementary School in Forty-Fort, PA, from 1967 to 1970; St. Rita Elementary School in Baltimore, MD, from 1970 to 1971; St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School in Archbald, PA, from 1971 to 1972 and 1978 to 1982; St. Mary’s Elementary School in Manhasset, NY, from 1972 to 1975; St. Dominic Elementary School in Oyster Bay, NY, from 1975 to 1977; and St. Peter of Alcantara Elementary School in Port Washington, NY, from 1977 to 1978.
Sister Michlynserved as principal at Our Lady of Mercy Elementary School in Forest Hills, NY, from 1966 to 1967. She also served as librarian at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Elementary School in Forest Hills, NY, from 1985 to 1988. At the Marian Convent in Scranton, she served as a nurse’s assistant from 1988 to 1992, and an occupational therapist from 1992 to 2001; and at the IHM Center in Scranton from 2001 to 2003, she served as the receptionist.
From 2003 until the time of her death, Sister Michlyn was a prayer minister at the Marian Convent and at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton.
She received a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Science degree both in education from Marywood College.
She is preceded in death by two sisters, Virginia Savage and Rose Ann Grella.
She is survived by a sister, Gloria Cardinali of Woodbury, NY, and by the members of the IHM Congregation.
The funeral will be Friday, December 18, at 11:00 a.m. with Mass of Christian Burial at Our Lady of Peace Residence, 2300 Adams Avenue in Scranton. Friends may call at Our Lady of Peace Residence on Thursday, December 17, between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. A prayer service will be held at 4:00 p.m. Interment will follow Mass on Friday 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/80082994
Vespers: https://video.ibm.com/recorded/80039193
Reflections given by Sister Ellen Maroney, IHM Congregation President
Sister Michlyn Grella, IHM Funeral Mass 12/18/15
Good morning. As we gather in prayer to celebrate the life of Sr. Michlyn, I want to welcome her sister, Gloria, her cousin, Gerry and Gerry’s husband, Bob, the members of her Band, the Sisters with whom she lived here at OLP, and all who are able to be with us today.
A special thank you to Father Kilpatrick for his presence. Father knows us so well and is a true friend. We very much appreciate you being with us, Father.
I would also like to express thanks to Srs. Jean, Eleanor Mary, and Mary Kay, the administrators here at OLP, and the entire OLP staff for their constant care and support of Michlyn.
Blest is she who believed that the promises
made to her by our God would be fulfilled.
Yesterday, as we shared some wonderful stories about Michlyn during the wake service, these words seem to capture for me the measure of her impact on those she met. We knew her as sister, teacher, principal, librarian, nurse assistant, O.T. aide, receptionist, and prayer minister, but, most of all, as friend and a woman of extraordinary faith and trust in the God she loved and served throughout her life. Her ever-present smile and her kind and gentle compassion and graciousness brightened the lives of innumerable students and those who walked life’s journey with her, as we heard so often in the remembrances yesterday. The wonderful stories about her generosity, courage, joy, and yes, even her patience with her friends whose idea of perfectionism was a distant cry from her own, proved unmistakably that our lives were better for having known her.
We celebrate and give thanks, then, for Michlyn’s life among us, for her unwavering love of God and her great gratitude for all that God and life gave her, the rejoicings as well as the sufferings. Her life was an example to me of the incredible power of deep faith and trust in God to overcome the darkness in each of our own lives that sometimes seems so overwhelming, whether it be caused by illness, loneliness, or loss of any kind. Michlyn’s vulnerability became her strength and her gift to us because she profoundly understood that gentle compassion, kindness, and understanding of others is a source of God’s healing and light in our world. She brought those gifts to those with whom she lived and ministered.
We bring thoughts of Michlyn’s goodness to our prayer today as we also remember very specially her parents, Teresa and Michael, and her sisters, Rose and Virginia, who now welcome her home to the eternal, all-encompassing love of her God.
We pray in a special way for those who will miss her dearly, especially her sister, Gloria, her cousin, Gerry and Gerry’s husband, Bob, her friends in community, the staff and Sisters here at Our Lady of Peace, especially those in Household 2-B, and all who knew and loved her. We ask the God of all consolation to comfort all of us at this time of loss.
Michlyn’s presence among us challenged and encouraged us, stretched and comforted us. Her compassion for others softened our hearts; her illness reminded us that despite our own woundedness, we can each make a distinctive contribution to our world that is good and sacred; her searching for life’s meaning drew us in and ever closer to the God in whom she had absolute trust. We are forever changed and forever grateful because Michlyn was in our lives.
Gloria will now place the scriptures on Michlyn’s casket, for indeed Michlyn heard the Word of God, she staked her life upon it and received life to the full . . . the Word now beckons her home.
