Sister M. Augusta Fleming, IHM

Sister M. Augusta Fleming, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Wednesday, December 6, 1944, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Carbondale, PA.

She was born on August 15, 1879 in Wilkes-Barre, PA, and given the name Mary Elizabeth. She was the daughter of the late Anthony and Catherine O’Connell Fleming. She entered the IHM Congregation on July 2, 1904, received the religious habit on December 8, 1904, and made profession of her vows on December 27, 1906.

Sister Augusta served as a teacher at the following schools: St. Patrick School in Olyphant, PA; St. John the Evangelist School in Scranton, PA; St. Mary of the Mount School in Pittsburgh, PA; and Epiphany School in Sayre, PA.

Sister Augusta  served as superior at St. Joseph’s Shelter in Scranton, PA; St. Joseph’s Hospital in Carbondale, PA; and from 1937 until the time of her death, at St. Agnes Place in Elmhurst, PA.

She was preceded in death by three sisters, Agnes Fleming, Ada Fleming, and Margaret Theresa Lynch, and three brothers, Dr. Frank, John and James A.

She is survived by two sisters, Catherine Hughes of Sayre, PA, and Ellen (Ella/Nellie) Fleming of Pittston, PA; two brothers George of Scranton, PA, and Dr. Thomas F., of Pittston, PA; and several nieces and nephews.

The funeral will be Saturday, December 9 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Catherine’s Church in Moscow, PA. Interment will follow at St. Catherine’s Cemetery, Moscow. Friends may call on Friday afternoon at St. Agnes Place, Elmhurst.

“In 1910 the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart were called to the Pittsburg (sic) Diocese. Reverend E. P. Griffin, a zealous priest and Superior of the Pittsburg Apostolate, with the consent of the Right Reverend J. F. Regis Canevin, D.D., applied to the motherhouse, Scranton, for Sisters to take charge of the school of Saint Mary’s of the Mount. Consent was gladly given and the mission was opened January, 1910. On January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany, the members of the new community were summoned to Mount Saint Mary’s. They were Sister M. Berchmans, Superior, Sister M. Raymond, Sister M. Cornelia, Sister M. Delphina, Sister M. Augusta, Sister M. Maurice, Sister M. Ferdinand and Sister M. Paulinus. Mass was said that morning in the chapel of the seminary by the Right Reverend Bishop Hoban, who addressed the little band of missionaries, bidding them God-speed and giving them his blessing. That afternoon, accompanied by Mother Cyril and Sister M. Leo, they left Mount Saint Mary’s.

The Sisters arrived in Pittsburg Friday morning and were met at the station by Reverend E. P. Griffin and Reverend William P. Dunlea.”

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. 324