Sister M. Inviolata Durkin, IHM

Sister M. Inviolata Durkin, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Tuesday, February 16, 1954, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Carbondale, PA.

She was born on April 9, 1873 in County Mayo, Ireland, and given Mary Anne. She was the daughter of the late John R. and Anne Price Durkin. In 1886, the family immigrated to America, and settled in Scranton, PA. She entered the IHM Congregation on August 24, 1895, received the religious habit on April 9, 1896, and made profession of vows on July 23, 1898.

Sister Inviolata served as superior and principal at the following schools: St. Michael’s Industrial School for Boys in Hoban Heights, PA; St. Leo School in Ashley, PA; St. Bernard School in Hastings, PA; St. Joseph School in Renovo, PA; St. John the Evangelist School in Bellefonte, PA; and Holy Rosary School in Scranton, PA.

Sister served as a teacher at the following schools: St. Mary of the Mount High School in Pittsburgh, PA, and Cathedral Elementary School in Scranton, PA.

She was preceded in death by two sisters, Bridget Keogh and Sister Mary Paul, RSM.

She is survived by three sisters, Catherine Coyne, Elizabeth Frances Durkin and Margaret Durkin, all of Scranton, PA, a niece and two nephews.

The funeral will be Friday, February 19 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Catherine’s Church in Moscow, PA. Interment will follow at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow. Friends may call on Thursday at St. Agnes Place in Elmhurst, PA.

The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary benefited from the efforts to bring young women from Ireland to Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Over the years a total of sixty-five young women became professed IHM religious. Their services were received as far west at Coeur d’Alene, Idaho at the IHM Academy and at St. Edward School, Twin Falls, Idaho. The southern missions witnessed their dedication in Washington, Raleigh, and Rocky Mount, North Carolina. It was remarked that black children in some southern schools were speaking with an Irish brogue! The Sisters from Ireland also served in many locations in Pennsylvania, such as Dushore, Lock Haven, Exeter, Altoona, Pittsburgh, St. Michael’s School in Hoban Heights, Cresson, Pittston, Scranton, and Williamsport. New York and Rhode Island missions also received their services.

Excerpted from The Story of the Native Irish Sisters Who Entered the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Scranton Pennsylvania by Sister M. Michel Keenan, IHM, 2006, p.18