Sister Marian Denise Walsh, IHM

Sister Marian Denise Walsh, IHM, (formerly known as Sister M. St. Dennis) of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Thursday, December 18, 2003, at the Marian Convent in Scranton, PA.

Born on September 19, 1919, in Dunmore, PA, she was the daughter of the late John and Sarah Higgins Walsh. She entered the IHM Congregation on February 2, 1942, made temporary profession of hervows on August 2, 1944 and final profession of her vows on August 2, 1947.

Sister Marian Denise served as a teacher, social worker, administrator, and advocate during her sixty years as an IHM Sister. She served as administrator of St. Joseph’s Center in Scranton, PA, from 1975 to 1991. Following this she became a staff member at Marywood College School of Social Work and later the Coordinator of Act 504 and Advisor to Students with Disabilities at Marywood College. She also served as a teacher in schools located in Idaho and New Jersey; as well as social worker and supervisor at St. Joseph’s Children’s and Maternity Hospital in Scranton, PA; and as executive director of the Brooklyn Diocese Catholic Charities in Brooklyn, NY.

She served as president of the Pennsylvania Association of Resources for People with Mental Retardation as well as board member for numerous institutions and agencies. She received honorary doctorates from King’s College, The University of Scranton, and Marywood College. Recently she was awarded the John J. Baldi Award for “excellence in the development of services that support individuals with mental disabilities and their families” from the Lackawanna, Susquehanna, and Wayne Counties Mental Health/Mental Retardation Board.

She was a pastoral visitor and prayer minister at the Marian Convent in Scranton, PA, from 1999 until the time of her death.

She received a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Marywood College, and a Master of Social Work degree from Fordham University in New York.

She was preceded in death by two brothers, John and Reverend Dennis, C.P.; and a sister, Sister Marie Dolores Walsh, R.G.S.

She is survived by a nephew, Robert J. Walsh of Trooper, PA; a niece, Ann Wright of Holmdel, NJ; grandnephews; and friends, Sister Mary Joan Kelleher, IHM, and Marysia L. Reilly.

The funeral will be Monday, December 22, at 10:30 a.m. with Mass of Christian Burial at the Marian Convent, followed by interment at St. Catherine Cemetery, Moscow, PA. Friends may call at the Marian Convent on Sunday, December 21, between 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.