St. Thomas Parish Cemetery, Coeur d’Alene, ID

by Sister Mary Rassley, IHM

Four of our IHM sisters are buried in this parish cemetery next to each other. Each has a story to tell, an IHM story. Sisters Clement Kearns (1921), Espiritu Kennedy (1920), Camillus Hatton (1929), and Laserian Flannelly (1940) each ministered in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho (dates in parentheses are year of death). When Sister Christine Mihelich and Sister Mary Rassley were on family ministry in Coeur d’Alene in the 1990s, they visited and placed flowers on the graves of these four sisters. You can see in the photo that there is a place specifically designated for flowers.

After Sisters Mary and Chris were no longer present in Coeur d’Alene, Sister Mary sought out the groundskeeper of the cemetery, Mike Kopf, in hopes that he would take care of putting flowers at the grave sites. In her attempts to reach Mike, Sister Mary spoke with Mary Lou Kopf, the mother of the groundskeeper, and explained what she wanted. Mary Lou said she could take care of that request. And, so, Mary Lou has faithfully put flowers at different seasons of the year at the graves of these four IHM
sisters.

Our sisters are still ‘present’ in the West, in Coeur d’Alene, and still spread our mission whenever people come to visit their loved ones in St. Thomas Parish Cemetery.