Sister Anna Eleanor Flaherty, IHM

Sister Anna Eleanor Flaherty, IHM, (formerly Sister Mary Oswalda) of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, died Friday, July 3, 1981 at the Marian Convent, in Scranton, PA.

Born on March 19, 1895 in Kingston, PA, she was the daughter of the late John J. and Mary Ann McCann Flaherty. She entered the IHM Congregation on May 24, 1921, received the religious habit on August 2, 1921, and made profession of her vows on August 15, 1923.

In the early years of her religious life, Sister Anna Eleanor taught primary and intermediate grades at St. Basil School in Dushore, PA, and St. Mary of the Mount in Pittsburgh, PA.

Sister Anna Eleanor also served as registered pharmacist at St. Joseph’s Children and Maternity Hospital in Scranton, PA, from 1934 to 1973.

From 1973 until the time of her death, Sister Anna Eleanor served as a prayer minister at the Marian Convent.

Before entering the community, she received a registered nurse’s certification from a local hospital-based program, and later received a registered pharmacist (RPh) degree from Columbia University. During her time as a pharmacist, Sister held memberships with the American Pharmaceutical Association, the Pennsylvania Pharmaceutical Associa­tion, and the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists.

She was preceded in death by three brothers, Joseph, Richard and Thomas, and two sisters, Mary J. Bentley and Josephine Murphy.

She is survived by two sisters, Eleanor Quinn of Wilkes-Barre, PA, and Margaret (Peg) McHale of Rochester, NY, and several nieces and nephews.

The funeral will be Monday with Mass of Christian Burial at 11:00 a.m. at the Marian Convent. Interment will follow at St. Catherine’s Cemetery, Moscow, PA. Friends may call on Sunday afternoon or evening at the Marian Convent.

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Reprinted from the IHM Newsletter, March 2020:

Sister Oswalda – Wonder Woman by Jan Corbett

Sister Oswalda, named Anna Eleanor Flaherty, was a native of Larksville, PA, and a registered nurse before entering the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. After her final vows she attended Columbia University in New York City. Upon completion of the pharmacy course, she was assigned to St. Joseph’s Children’s and Maternity Hospital, Scranton, PA, in 1934.

Sister was described as an outspoken, energetic woman who was an economist and a lover of humanity. Her only concern was to care for those in need and at the same time save money for St. Joseph’s. In her 39 years as the pharmacist, she transformed her pharmacy into, for that period in history, a pharmaceutical dream. Sister Oswalda was a wizard at making use of raw materials—she even made vanilla extract for the kitchen and could quote exactly how much money she saved. Her ministry to the young women at the hospital included manufacturing cosmetics in her lab.

Sister Oswalda may have been the first person who knew about universal medical precautions used in healthcare today, such as protecting the medical professional and the patient from contaminants such as bodily fluids, the wearing of gloves, and the washing of hands. She had a respect for germs and bacteria. She wore white gloves, washed her own dishes, and set her own place at the table. The lab was off limits and one had to knock before entering. She was a “woman of science” before her time.

Sister received many accolades and honors including those she received three times from the American Pharmaceutical Association for her display presentations. Sister Oswalda wrote an excellent, highly intelligent review of the reference book, Pharmaceutical Botany, appearing in the professional Bulletin of the American Society of Hospital Pharmacists which concluded with a spiritual reflection: “God, the Divine Author of Nature, must surely bestow His invisible seal of approbation upon this magnificent work Pharmaceutical Botany which reflects so much honor and glory on His creative handiwork.”