Sister M. Anysia Donohue, IHM

Sister M. Anysia Donohue, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Saturday, April 22, 2023, at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton, PA.

She was born on October 8, 1932, in Pittsburgh, PA, and given the name Lillian. She was the daughter of the late Timothy and Catherine Joyce Donohue. She entered the IHM Congregation on September 4, 1950, made her temporary profession of vows on August 2, 1953, and her final profession of vows on August 2, 1956. Sister Anysia received a Bachelor of Arts degree in education and a Master of Science degree in religious education, both from Marywood College.

Sister Anysia served as a teacher in the following schools: St. Paul Elementary School in Scranton, PA, from 1953 to 1957; St. John the Evangelist Elementary School in Pittston, PA, from 1957 to 1959; St. Rose Elementary School in Carbondale, PA, from 1959 to 1961; St. Mary of the Assumption Elementary School in Upper Marlboro, MD, from 1961 to 1965; Santisimo Nombre de Jesus Elementary School in Lima, Peru, from 1965 to 1970; All Saints Elementary School in Masontown, PA, from 1970 to 1971; St. Rosalia Elementary School in Pittsburgh, PA, from 1971 to 1973; St. Mary of the Mount Elementary School in Pittsburgh, PA, from 1973 to 2006; and Bishop Leonard-St. Mary of the Mount Academy in Pittsburgh, PA, from 2006 to 2012.

Sister Anysia also served as an instructor at the Educational Enrichment Institute at the IHM Center in Scranton, PA, from 2012 to 2018; and on the support staff of the IHM Center in Scranton, PA, from 2014 to 2018.

From 2019 until the time of her death, Sister Anysia was a prayer minister at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton.

Sister is preceded in death by a brother, Jack, and three sisters, Margaret Imhoff, Catherine Levy and Ann Kasel. She is survived by nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. She is also survived by the members of the IHM Congregation.

The funeral will be Thursday, April 27, at 11:00 a.m. with Mass of Christian Burial at Our Lady of Peace Residence, 2300 Adams Avenue in Scranton. Friends may call at Our Lady of Peace Residence on Thursday, April 27, between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. A prayer service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow Mass on Thursday at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, PA.

Prayer of Remembrance and Funeral Mass 

Eulogy

Reflection given by Sister Janet Milan, IHM

Jesus appeared to the eleven and said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.”

In his work, A Book of Grace-Filled Days, Tom McGrath, speaks of those people we encounter who are quiet proclaimers of the Gospel. “They proclaim by their example and their actions. They proclaim by their example and their care. They proclaim by their confident trust that ‘all will be well.’ And they proclaim best by their trust in the intervention of the Holy Spirit at every turn. Pay attention today to the quiet proclaimers you meet.” When I read this, my mind and heart went right to my memories of Sister Anysia.

Sister Anysia left her native Pittsburgh, as a teenager, to enter the IHM congregation in 1950. Many years passed before she returned to the city as a distinguished teacher having ministered in schools on the east coast and in Lima, Peru.

Sister Anysia was baptized, Lillian. She was the youngest of five children born to Irish immigrants, Timothy and Catherine Donohue. Her brother Jack and sisters, Peg, Catherine and Ann joined her in filling their home with joy and love.

Anysia relished sharing stories of her teaching career. At St. Paul’s School, she “almost” taught President Joe Biden in fourth grade, but his family moved to Delaware the previous summer. While teaching in St. Mary’s School in Upper Marlboro, she taught seventy-two students in a classroom where she could not see every child because a big coal stove, that heated the classroom, was located in the center of the room. One famous story, from her days in Peru, that she liked to tell, involved her breaking one of her own rules. She had instructed the children not to remove any pages of their accumulated work from their notebooks, when she realized that her penmanship lesson, had unintentionally, included a rude and unacceptable Spanish word that would have caused an uproar had it been circulated outside the classroom, Anysia quickly and frantically removed the pages from each notebook explaining to the children that she just wanted to show the other sisters how well the boys and girls were doing. Thus her quick thinking averted a catastrophe!

Anysia was recruited as one of the pioneer Scranton IHMs to open a mission in Lima, Peru in 1965 and served there for five years. She first learned the language then taught it to the Peruvian children. Because life in Lima was not stable at times, she always made sure that there were funds available to get the sisters back to the states if the need arose.

One notable, frightening memory that Anysia often shared involved an earthquake in Lima which struck suddenly when she was in the parking lot of a Sears store. As the earth started to shake all around her, she prayed, “Please God don’t let me die in this parking lot in the middle of a foreign country!”  Needless to say, God answered her prayer.

A few years later, Anysia returned to western Pennsylvania, first to Masontown and then to Pittsburgh. She taught in St. Rosalia’s then returned to her beloved alma mater, St. Mary of the Mount. In all, Anysia taught in her beloved city for forty-two years. In those early years at St. Mary’s, she also spent her weekends caring for her elderly parents until their passing.

Many years later, I came under her tutelage at St. Mary of the Mount. I was her driving companion; be it shopping, vacations, medical appointments or visitation trips.

I drove, she provided directions and shopping points along the route. When given the opportunity, she could retrieve her purse and walking shoes at a moment’s notice. and be ready to travel. It was a good thing that I was a native Pittsburgher and knew my way to various frequented destinations.

Anysia was famous for this adage, “If you repeat it enough times, it’s yours for life”

Former students who met her, in a chance encounter, would begin to list all the pronouns, or their knowledge of the multiplications tables which they recited before each class. Sister would acknowledge her thanks with a big smile and a chuckle.

In later years, Anysia preferred to come home to the convent on Bigham Street after school, kick off her shoes and read the daily paper. We alternated days to prepare dinner; she was a meat and potato girl; vegetables were mainly for my fare. She preferred sandwiches to salads, especially those with broccoli. Anysia would fix a great mix of green leafy stuff, but meat or cheese between two slices of bread was her choice. We even provided IHM Meals on Wheels to Sister Mary Bride, who lived nearly.

Our local convent served as the Pittsburgh Motherhouse! December eighth, regional meetings, Steeler Super Bowl festivities, whatever the occasion, local IHMs were always welcome at our door. She preplanned many of the celebrations far in advance of the date so we were able to have most preparations in place prior to the event.

Anysia, to those who knew her was, in her quiet manner, recognized as one of the kindest, most compassionate and generous people they knew. Any man begging on the street was sure to cause her to find funds for him in her pocket. She would say, “He might be Jesus or St. Joseph.”  We tried to make sure that if a stranger came to our door, he or she would be housed in a warm place to stay for the night. In every aspect, Anysia embodied IHM hospitality and its welcoming spirit.

While we miss her, we rejoice wither that she has entered into eternal life.  The Donohue family is once again reunited. May she, her parents, siblings and extended family rest in peace forever.