Sister M. Rachel Farrelly, IHM

Sister M. Rachel Farrelly, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Friday, March 20, 1959, at the Marian Convent in Scranton, PA.

She was born on December 20, 1887 in Rock Lake, PA, and given the name Rose. She was the daughter of the late Thomas and Mary Jane O’Brien Farrelly. She entered the IHM Congregation on September 8, 1917, received the religious habit on January 3, 1918, and made profession of her vows on December 27, 1919.

Sister Rachel served as a teacher at St. Rose Academy in Carbondale, PA, and St. Mary of the Mount School in Pittsburgh, PA, where she also served as superior and principal. Her most recent assignment was as a teacher at Cathedral Elementary School in Scranton, PA.

She was preceded in death by three brothers, Thomas, James and Eugene, and a sister, Ellen (Ella).

She is survived by a sister, Mary, and a brother, George, both of Philadelphia, PA.

The funeral will be Monday, March 23 at 9:30 a.m. at the Marian Convent, followed by interment at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, PA. Friends may call at the Marian Convent on Sunday.

Archival Remembrance:

Many men and women who Sister Rachel Farrelly taught have called her blessed, for she was a thorough, painstaking teacher. Her teaching was shortened by years of illness. Her last months were filled with great weakness, and more and more she had to lean on others for guidance and strength. In these trying years, she saw God’s holy will as He made it known to her and to her Superiors; patiently and humbly she gave her fiat. As all souls are made holy in the crucible of suffering and generously offered to God, so Sister Rachel accepted illness as her prelude to eternal rest.