Sister M. Immaculate Keefe, IHM

Sister M. Immaculate Keefe, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Friday, March 16, 1951, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Carbondale, PA.

She was born on July 5, 1880 in Athens, PA, and given the name Mary. She was the daughter of the late Marcus and Mary Pyne Keefe. She entered the IHM Congregation on July 1, 1904, received the religious habit on December 8, 1904, and made profession of her vows on December 27, 1906.

Sister Immaculate served as a teacher at the following schools: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Elementary School in Altoona, PA; St. Joseph Elementary School in Renovo, PA; Holy Rosary Elementary School in Scranton, PA; and St. John the Evangelist Elementary School in Scranton, PA.

Sister served as principal at St. Peter of Alcantara Elementary School in Port Washington, NY, and St. Mary Elementary School in Avoca, PA.

She served as superior at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Carbondale, PA, and St. Agnes Place in Elmhurst, PA.

From 1948 until the time of her death, Sister Immaculate served as a prayer minister at St. Mary’s Convent in Dunmore, PA.

She was preceded in death by three brothers, David, John, and Willie (infant), and two sisters, Mary Keefe and Margaret (infant).

She is survived by a sister, Anna Keefe of Athens, PA, and three nephews, David, Francis and Thomas Keefe all of Detroit, MI.

The funeral will be Monday, March 19 at 9:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church in Dunmore, followed by interment at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, PA. Friends may call at on Sunday afternoon at St. Mary’s Convent, Dunmore.

“In 1910 the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart were asked to take charge of the parochial school of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Altoona. Right Reverend Bishop Garvey had recently formed a new parish in the heart of the Italian District of Altoona and had given the charge of the parish to the Fathers of the Third Order Regulars of Saint Francis. The Very Reverend Jerome Zazzara, T.O.R., D.D., who was at the time Provincial of the Order, was appointed pastor. He built a parochial school, and at Bishop Garvey’s suggestion applied for the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart. The work was entrusted to Sister M. Edward, who with Sister M. Henrietta, Sister M. Dositheus, Sister M. Leonard, Sister M. Cosmas, Sister M. Immaculate, Sister Anna Maria, and Sister M. Stephanie arrived in Altoona on August 21, 1911.

The school was opened in September, 1911. The opening Mass was celebrated by the Right Reverend Bishop. Three hundred pupils were enrolled on opening day. The school proved inadequate to accommodate the ever-increasing number, and a new school more modern in its appointments, was erected in the second year.”

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.321, 322