Sister M. Aquina Whalen, IHM
Sister M. Aquina Whalen, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, died on Tuesday, April 1, 1982, at the Marian Convent in Scranton, Pennsylvania, after an extended illness.
She was born on October 29, 1897 in Port Ewen, New York; and given the name Kathleen. She was the daughter of the late John Patrick and Catherine E. Tucker Whalen. She entered the IHM Congregation on August 14, 1918, received the religious habit on August 2, 1919, and made her profession of vows on August 2, 1921.
Sister Aquina served in many roles over twenty years at St. Patrick School in Scranton, including superior, teacher of junior high grades, and office assistant.
Sister also served as the bursar for the IHM Congregation at the IHM Motherhouse, located on the campus of Marywood College, for twenty-five years; and assistant administrator at St. Joseph's Hospital in Carbondale, from 1968 to 1977.
From 1977 until the time of her death, she served as a prayer minister at the Marian Convent.
She is survived by a sister, Miss Elizabeth Whalen, of Port Ewen, New York; a nephew, Reverend Robert Rappleyea, of New York City; several nieces and a nephew.
Because of Holy Week, there will be a "Liturgy of the Word" service at the Marian Convent on Thursday at 10:30 a.m., with interment at St. Catherine Cemetery, Moscow, PA, immediately following. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated in the Marian Convent Chapel on Monday at 11:00 a.m. Friends may call at the Marian Convent Wednesday evening.
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.
Archival Remembrance:
Sister Aquina's first assignment was to St. Patrick's School in West Scranton, where she taught at the junior high level and was an office assistant for twenty years. She also served as superior of the community of Sisters there. However, Sister Aquina is best remembered by both the Sisters and the local people as Bursar of the Congregation of Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a post she held in the old motherhouse at Marywood for a span of 25 years. The construction of the Marian Convent and the Novitiate building (now the I.H.M. Generalate) were two of the projects financed under her direction, and there were many others.
