Sister M. Geraldine Tessier, IHM

Sister M. Geraldine Tessier, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Wednesday, June 15, 1983, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Carbondale, PA.

She was born on March 28, 1904, in Cohoes, NY, and given the name Cecelia M. She was the daughter of the late Joseph and Elizabeth Favreau Tessier. She entered the IHM Congregation on September 8, 1922, received the religious habit on December 28, 1922, and made profession of her vows on December 29, 1924.

For the first decade of Sister Geraldine’s teaching career was spent at St. Mary-John School in Cresson, PA, where she taught in the intermediate grades and helped to provide a home for the orphaned children at those institutions. She later taught at the following schools: St. Basil High School in Dushore, PA; Bishop Klonowski High School in Scranton, PA; St. Charles Borromeo Elementary School in Sugar Notch, PA; and Sacred Heart High School in La Plata, MD. She also served at high schools located in Masontown, PA, and New York City, NY.

Sister also served as school secretary at St. Ephrem School in Brooklyn, NY.

From 1982 until the time of her death, Sister Geraldine was a prayer minister at the Marian Convent in Scranton, PA.

She was preceded in death by three brothers, Stanislaus , Clarence Alphonse and Leon R.; and two sisters, Clara Elizabeth (infant) and Blanche Shortsleeves.

She is survived by a sister, Florence Supples of Cheektowaga, New York; and several nieces and nephews.

The funeral will be Saturday, June 18, at 10:00 a.m. with Mass of Christian Burial at the Marian Convent, followed by interment at St. Catherine’s Cemetery, Moscow, PA. Friends may call at the Marian Convent Friday afternoon and evening.

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Archival Remembrance:

Sister Geraldine, in her fifty-ninth year of profession as a Sister, Servant of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, died Wednesday, June 15, at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Carbondale, after an illness. The first decade of her long teaching career was spent at St. Mary John School and St. Mary and St. John Orphanages in Cresson, Pennsylvania, where she taught intermediate grades and helped to provide a home for the orphaned children at these institutions. Later Sister Geraldine taught high school language and business subjects at IHM schools.