Stories from the Archives
Sister M. Felicitas Baxter, IHM: The first sister buried in our cemetery
Have you ever wondered, as you walked or drove past our little cemetery on the Marywood University grounds, who was the first sister buried there? We introduce you to Lizzie Baxter. In November of 1852 Elizabeth (Lizzie) Baxter was born in Paterson, NJ. Our records and the note on her baptism record indicate she was baptized by Rev. Thomas Quinn at St. John Baptist Church in Paterson on the 7th of November 1852. This note is important because newspaper obituaries from The Scranton Republic dated April 16, 1905, and The Times Tribune dated April 15, 1905 indicate she was from Susquehanna. Elizabeth’s father Peter was a native of Scotland and her mother Elizabeth a native of Ireland.
Elizabeth entered the IHMs on September 8, 1873, was received April 13, 1874 and given the name Felicitas. On April 25, 1876 she made her vows. Sister Felicitas was an accomplished artist and served as an art teacher and head of the Art Department at St. Cecilia’s Academy (Scranton) for 25 years. She held the same position at the Marywood Seminary for several years as well.
“She was singularly gifted and had the faculty of drawing out and developing the latent talents of her pupils. The walls of many homes in northeastern Pennsylvania are beautified by the work that was accomplished under her able direction. For years she had charge of the sanctuary in the Cathedral.”1
On April 13, 1905, the funeral for Sister Felicitas was held in the Seminary chapel. She seems to have been a beloved teacher at the Seminary and a large number of her pupils and friends attended her funeral. She was buried in the Marywood Cemetery. Her IHM online obituary indicates that “Sister M. Felicitas was the first to be buried in the little God’s Acre that a short time before had been consecrated on the grounds of Mount Saint Mary’s.”2
