Mother M. Cyril Conway, IHM

Mother M. Cyril Conway, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Saturday, June 6, 1942, at Marywood College in Scranton, PA.

She was born on August 27, 1858, in Pittston, PA and given the name Ellen. She was the daughter of the late Henry J. and Margaret Shellue Conway. She entered into the IHM Congregation on June 5, 1876 at St. Cecilia Novitiate in Scranton, PA, received the religious habit on February 13, 1877 at St. Rose Novitiate in Carbondale, PA, and made profession of her religious vows on August 27, 1878 at St. Cecilia Novitiate in Scranton, PA.

Mother Cyril was elected the Superior General of the IHM Congregation in August of 1901. She walked nearly every day from St. Cecilia’s, Scranton to supervise work at new motherhouse site. The new motherhouse at Mt. St. Mary’s was completed in 1903. She constructed shrine to Our Lady of Victory in Thanksgiving that a proposed railroad was not built through the grounds. During her tenure the following missions were open in the western USA: 1903: St. Lawrence School in Portland, Oregon; 1903: IHM Academy in Couer d’Alene, Idaho; 1905: St. Joseph’s School in Spokane, Washington. And in 1909, the St. John’s Home (an orphanage) was opened in Altoona, PA.

On November 2, 1905, Mother M. Cyril accepted Casmira Kaupas and two other young women into the formation program at Mount St. Mary. On August 29, 1907, Maria, Immaculata and Concepta were professed. This day marked the birth of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Casimir (Lithuanian Sisters) founded to serve Lithuanian immigrants.

Father Jankola sought the assistance of Mother M. Cyril to direct new candidates who would form another new congregation to serve Slovak immigrants. On September 11, 1909, the celebration of the founding of the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius (Slovak Sisters) occurred.

She was preceded in death by her step-mother Ann Garvin-Conway, and two brothers, Edward and Myles.

She is survived a sister, Jennie Healey of Brooklyn, NY, three nieces, and a cousin, Dedie Gibbons of Pittston, PA.

The funeral will be Tuesday, June 9 at 10:15 a.m. in the Marywood College Chapel in Scranton, PA. Interment will follow at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, PA. Friends may call on Monday at Marywood College.

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“Everybody felt that Mother Cyril was well-chosen to succeed Mother Mary. Her training by heroic guides amid the privations of early days, her experience as bursar, superior, and mistress of various schools, combined with her natural keenness and width of vision, fitted Mother Cyril admirably for the circumstance in which she was placed. The members of her council likewise had the wisdom and culture of experienced religious guides and so were equipped to complement her variously in the magnitude of her ambition for her beloved community. “

“At the opening of the annual retreat in August, 1913, Mother Cyril resigned her office into the hands of the Right Reverend Bishop with the comfort of heart of a servant of God in the grand work He had given her to accomplish. Much of its execution was due to her great-mindedness and her holiness, to her self-sacrificing spirit and to her prayerfulness, which was a constant edification to her Sisters. Appreciation of her work was not confined to her community or to Catholic ecclesiastics and laity, for anywhere that Mother Cyril is known, the admiration and respect of everyone, regardless of religion or personal feeling, attends her name. Mount Saint Mary’s, dedicated to the Blessed Mother under her title of the Immaculate Conception, is a fitting memorial to the life work of Mother Cyril. It was established by her on a solid foundation, in a spirit that draws a rapidly increasing list of patrons and manifestations of public favor. Though retired, she brought the world to her by her goodness, she elevated its taste and taught it the devoted practice of Gospel precepts. The tribute, not consonant with the modesty of Mother Cyril, must be recorded of her that she left the work entrusted to her care at Mount Saint Mary’s, a subject of rejoicing for angels and for men.”

Excerpted from The Sisters of the I.H.M.: The Story of The Founding of The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Their Work In The Scranton Diocese by Sister M. Immaculata Gillespie, IHM, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, NY, 1921, p. 277, 381

Evidence of the reverence in which Mother M. Cyril, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, was held by fellow religionists, members of Marywood College alumnae and the lay public was profoundly shown yesterday when the last rites for this devoted servant of God were held.

For 66 years, Mother Cyril, a native of Pittston, faithfully and humbly performed God’s work as a member of the I.H.M. order, as a teacher, mother superior, administrator, ever devoted to the youthful charges who were enrolled under the care of the order. As Mother General of the religious community, Mother Cyril played an important role in the development of the mother house at Marywood.

With her zeal for educational endeavors, Mother Cyril combined the ability of an organizer and administrator, in addition to serving as Mother General, was directress of Marywood Seminary and bursar of the order.

During her years of religious service, Mother Cyril enriched the lives of hundreds of students who attended Marywood, as well as Sisters of the I.H.M. who found this holy and humble woman a noble example to emulate.

Her soul had been gathered unto its eternal reqard by the Master she served so well; her memory remains enshrined in the volume of good works she performed during her years of sistershood.

The Scranton Tribune  · Scranton, Pennsylvania  · Wed, Jun 10, 1942 · Page 4