Sister M. Jane Frances Keating, IHM

Sister M. Jane Frances Keating, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Saturday, July 9, 1960, at the Marian Convent in Scranton, PA.

She was born on January 24, 1886 in Pittston, PA, and given the name Stella. She was the daughter of the late Thomas and Mary Sheridan Keating. She entered the IHM Congregation on March 25, 1911, received the religious habit in December 1911, and made profession of her vows in December 1913.

Sister Jane Frances served as teacher at the following schools: St. Alphonsus School in New York City, NY, from 1914 to 1916; St. Bernard Parochial School in Hastings, PA, from 1916 to 1922; and All Saints School in Masontown, PA, from 1922 to 1926.

Sister Jane Frances was an accomplished seamstress, and after retiring from the classroom, she served in this capacity at the IHM Motherhouse at Marywood College in Scranton, PA.

From 1957 until the time of her death, Sister served as a prayer minister at the Marian Convent.

She was preceded in death by two brothers, James, and Robert, and three sisters, Greta Lynch, Mae Keating, and Catherine Keating.

She is survived by two brothers, Stanley of Philadelphia, PA, and Harold of Scranton, PA; nieces and nephews; and an aunt in community, Sister Mary Stephen Sheridan, IHM of Scranton, PA.

The funeral will be Monday, July 11 at 9:30 a.m. at the Marian Convent, with interment to follow at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, PA. Friends may call on Sunday afternoon at the Marian Convent.

Archival Remembrance:

Doubtless, most of us remember Sister M. Jane Frances as a “woman wrapped in silence.” In a group, she was a silent, smiling listener. She was always self-effacing, keeping herself from public view, and finding her happiness in faithfully and effectively serving her community. After years of patient teaching, she was assigned to the many tasks of the Marywood sewing room. The effects of a fall made walking difficult for her. However, she was present at every community exercise. The silence she had so well practiced in her “good days” deepened as the shadows fell around her when she was forced by weakness to stay in the cloister of the Marian Convent. Here the hands that had been so busy in the sewing room seemed always to be “plying the needle” in the gesture of sewing. Her humble silent example edified all.