On behalf of Sister Susan's Family, my mother and me, her nephew George Stringer and his wife Carol, nephew B.J. Stringer, niece Jean Marie Barry and her husband Jim Barry, and all of the McMenamin, Stringer, and Ferry families, we want to extend our thanks to the Sisters and staff of the Marian Convent, Our Lady of Peace Residence, and the Marian Community Hospital for the loving care that they provided to Sister Susan during the past ten years.
I would also like to thank the choir from Bishop O'Reilly High School - the former Kingston Catholic - for their presence here. I know that Sister Susan would be delighted that you are singing at the Mass this morning.
We loved Sister Susan as an Aunt, Sister, teacher, musician and friend.
Aunt Susan would want brevity at this time and I will do my best to please her with that brevity.
When I think of Aunt Susan, I think about four things. The first of these is LOVE.
Sister Susan loved God. She devoted her life to God and his service.
Sister Susan loved the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Growing up in Freeland, she was heavily recruited by the Mercy Nuns. But she was IHM all the way and never regretted it a day in her life.
My Aunt Susan loved her family unconditionally, especially, her Mother Maggie, her sister Margaret, and her brother Bernie.
Sister Susan loved her friends. Her friends from her Band, especially the late Sister Florence. Her friends from the Marian and Our Lady of Peace Residence like Sister Basil and Sister Daria. Her friends from the Congregation, Sister Grace Madeline, Sister St. Roger, Sister Kathleen Steck, Sister Eleanor Marie, Sister Loretta, and Sister Joan Katoski. Her friends and former students like Dr. Sharon Rooney, Rita Abbot, and Connie McDermott.
She loved the Marian Convent and the Our Lady of Peace Residence. She loved the feeling of community at these centers and the spirit that exists here.
And, she Loved her dog Puddin', and all animals for that matter. I can safely say that she never met a dog that she did not like.
The second thing that I think of when I think of Sister Susan is FAITHFULLNESS.
Sister Susan was faithful in her life, her work, her love and her Vocation. She was dedicated to the Mission of this Congregation, to serve as a witness to the presence of God in this world.
She was a loyal friend and once she was your friend, you had a friend for life.
But don't confuse her loyalty, faithfulness, constancy and steadiness with stagnancy. She was constant and steady in her ability to accept and adjust to change, to learn new things, to change with the times, and go with the flow.
One of my friends said to me recently, "Your Aunt Susan is hip."
As expert as she was with music, Susan impressed them with her knowledge of and interest in pop culture, sports, Penn State football, women's basketball, politics, animals, and physical therapy.
The third thing that I think about when I think of Aunt Susan is TALENT.
Sister Susan was a gifted and talented musician and teacher.
I believe that "the art or essence of teaching is to share joy" - to share the joy and love that we have with our students. Sister Susan was generous to those of us whom she taught, with whom she shared her joy of music, of life, and of God.
She inspired my love of music and worked tirelessly to teach me to sing. As talented as she was at teaching music, she had to give up on that effort and she suggested that I lip sync.
Evidently, musical talent skipped a generation in our family. Sister Susan was very proud of the fact that her great nephew, the son of George and Carol Stringer, is a professional musician with the national symphony orchestra of Mexico.
The fourth thing that I think about when I think of Aunt Susan is EXCELLENCE.
Sister Susan wanted all of us to use the gifts and talents that God gave to us. She believed that, "To those whom much is given, much is expected." She role modeled that philosophy to us. She challenged all of us to achieve excellence, to reach our potential, to "shoot for the stars" in all that we do. She encouraged us, coached us, supported us, and sometimes she pushed us, but always she celebrated our successes with us.
To paraphrase from a speech about Robert F. Kennedy:
Sister Susan need not be idealized or enlarged in death beyond what she was in life. She should be remembered simply as a good and decent person who loved, who shared, who excelled, and who served God.
Together, over the last several days, we have all gone through a remarkable experience. We have said our goodbyes and prayers for our good friend Sister Susan. We know that she will be buried and rise again like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We know this because - God has promised it.
And we all hope, that some day, we will join her in "the land where death has no dominion," the world of everlasting life.
Although we have said goodbye to Sister Susan, we know it is not goodbye. It is - we shall meet again. And when we do, we shall be eternally happy.
Dr. Margaret M. McMenamin
May 10, 2007
