Sister Marianne Knight, IHM

 

Sister Marianne Knight, IHM, (formerly known as Sister M. Naomi) of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Friday, February 2, 2024, at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton, PA.

Born on December 31, 1938, in Cleveland, OH, Sister Marianne was the daughter of the late Harry Glenn and Eleanor Hocevar Knight. She entered the IHM Congregation on September 8, 1960, made her temporary profession of vows on June 26, 1963, and her final profession of vows on June 26, 1968. Sister Marianne received a Bachelor of Science degree in education and a Master of Science degree in counselor education, both from Marywood College. Sister was also a certified health care administrator.

Sister Marianne served as a teacher at the following schools: St. Rosalia Elementary School in Pittsburgh, PA, from 1965 to 1968; St. Bernard Elementary School in Hastings, PA, from 1968 to 1972; and St. John the Evangelist Elementary School in Silver Spring, MD, from 1979 to 1980.

Sister served as principal at the following schools: Epiphany Elementary School in Sayre, PA, from 1972 to 1977; St. Stephen Elementary School in New York, NY, from 1977 to 1979; St. Rosalia Elementary School in Pittsburgh, PA, from 1980 to 1986; and Our Lady of Peace Elementary School in Clarks Green, PA, from 1986 to 1991.

Sister Marianne served as director of social services and pastoral care at Lackawanna Health and Rehab Center in Olyphant, PA, from 1991 to 2011. She was a social service caseworker at Cedarbrook-Fountain Hill Lehigh County Nursing Home in Bethlehem, PA, from 2011 to 2017.

At Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton, PA, Sister Marianne was a volunteer in the Heartworks Gift Boutique and a support staff member from 2017 to 2020. She also served on the support staff at the IHM Center in Scranton, PA, from 2017 to 2022.

From 2022 until the time of her death, Sister Marianne was a prayer minister at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton.

Sister Marianne was preceded in death by a brother-in-law, Terry Turnbow. She is survived by a sister, Donagene Turnbow of Post Falls, ID and nephews. She is also survived by the members of the IHM Congregation.

The funeral will be Monday, February 12, at 11:00 a.m. with Mass of Christian Burial at Our Lady of Peace Residence, 1510 University Avenue in Dunmore, PA. Friends may call at Our Lady of Peace Residence on Monday, February 12, between 9:30 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Interment will follow Mass on Monday at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, PA.

Funeral Mass 

Reflection given by Sister Katie Clauss, IHM Congregation President

I have been a friend of Marianne’s for 51 years. She was my first principal and what a blessing she was and continued to be for me as a mentor and friend. Conversations with her over time were a great source of joy and support as well as consolation and the proverbial challenge to get a grip and keep moving forward. As Marianne’s life was ebbing and flowing over the past few weeks, I could see with new eyes that our friendship was a spiritual journey where life could be broken open and shared with tenderness and honesty. In listening to and observing Marianne, I learned what Simone Weil meant when she stated that “attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity,” I learned this in the way she wholeheartedly focused on the person with whom she was speaking. Howard Thurman, in his book Disciplines of the Spirit, captures Marianne’s ability to listen attentively.  He notes,

How indescribably wonderful and healing it is to encounter another human being who listens not only to our words, but manages somehow to listen to us.

Today’s gospel, the Emmaus story, is a very fitting scripture passage for this celebration of Marianne’s life. Like Jesus, Marianne attentively walked with family, friends and those she served who were struggling with doubt and fear, disappointment and wanting to turn away from the possibilities that were ahead.Her ability to attend to them helped her to listen them into a new understanding that they could take forward.

In her final days, Marianne walked her own Emmaus journey with a sense of God’s presence as she longed for the time when she would be able to ask God all of the questions that were burning in her heart, longing to have those questions, like bread, broken open and shared. I can imagine that as she neared the edge of her life, she heard Jesus beckon to her, “Marianne, stay and have supper with me. It is nearly evening and the day is done.”

Marianne, you heard and responded wholeheartedly to God’s Word as you daily lived your vows with integrity and fidelity. It is Jesus, God’s word, who calls you, who loves you home.

As I place Marianne’s vow card on her urn, please take a moment to remember and give thanks for her life.

Sister Roberta is going to share with us a prayer that had deep meaning for Marianne, Our Lady, Undoer of Knots.  It was one she shared freely with those she met.