Sister M. Urban Donavan, IHM

Sister M. Urban Donavan, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Wednesday, January 30, 1957, at the Marian Convent in Scranton, PA.

She was born on January 9, 1870 in Fairview Township, PA, and given the name Mary Ann. She was the daughter of the late William and Anna Talbot Donavan. She entered the IHM Congregation on January 7, 1890, received the religious habit on July 20, 1890, and made profession of her vows on April 3, 1893.

Sister Urban was an accomplished seamstress, and served at the motherhouse of the community during her entire religious life, first at St. Rose’s Convent, Carbondale, PA, and after 1902 at Mount Saint Mary’s Motherhouse in Scranton, PA, helping ready new sisters for reception and profession ceremonies. In more recent years she resided at St. Agnes Place in Elmhurst, PA, before moving to the Marian Convent in 1956.

She was preceded in death by a brother, William Joseph, Jr., and a sister, Alice Donavan.

She is survived by a brother, James of Pittston, PA, and four sisters, Helen (Nell) Judge of Philadelphia, PA, Julia Lawler of West Pittston, PA, and Catherine Donavan and Elizabeth Donavan, both of Ashley, PA. She is also survived by several nieces and nephews, including Reverend William Donovan of Holy Saviour Church in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

The funeral will be Friday, February 1 at 9:30 a.m. at the Marian Convent in Scranton. Interment will follow at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, PA. Friends may call on Thursday after 2:00 p.m. at the Marian Convent.

Archival Remembrance:

Few of our Sisters are not personally indebted to our beloved Sister M. Urban Donovan. For decades of years, Marywood and Sister Urban were almost synonymous, at least in matters of clothing. Her meticulous care of all things and her constant solicitude for the needs of all, made her a personal friend. She knew each Sister personally, and in her selfless service, she led a life of real dedication to the work of the Congregation. Her quiet and unfailing care of reception and profession ceremonies are holy traditions. When her eyes, worn out in God’s service, no longer brought recognition of Sisters, she remembered voices and readily identified them with “numbers,” in her own precise way. Who can forget her almost continuous prayers as she wove them into her labor? Her Mary-life sanctified her Martha-life. In her retired life, her surcease from labor gave her the longed-for opportunity for greater prayer. Then the chapel became her living room, and her prayer was almost constant. May God reward her example of continuous prayer and of selfless devotion to the needs of others.