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In Memory

Sister Virginia Waters, IHM

May 15, 1934 – July 7, 2024

Virginia Waters, IHM

Sister Virginia Waters, IHM, (formerly known as Sister Maria Crucis) of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Sunday, July 7, 2024, at Regional Hospital in Scranton, PA.

Born on May 15, 1934, in Marion, OH, Sister Virginia was the daughter of the late Dr. Raymond J. and Virginia Starner Waters. She entered the IHM Congregation on February 2, 1957, made temporary profession of her vows on August 4, 1959, and final profession of her vows on August 15, 1964.  Sister Virginia received a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from the College of Mount St. Joseph, and a Master of Science degree in religious education from Marywood College.

Sister Virginia served as a teacher at St. Matthew Elementary School in East Stroudsburg, PA, from 1959 to 1961.

Sister Virginia served as head nurse and medical-surgical nurse instructor at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Carbondale, PA, from 1961 to 1964; geriatric nurse at the Marian Convent in Scranton, PA, from 1964 to 1967; school nurse at St. Michael’s Industrial School for Boys in Hoban Heights, PA, from 1967 to 1969; medical-surgical nurse instructor at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Carbondale, PA, from 1969 to 1971; and head nurse at St. Joseph’s Center in Scranton, PA, from 1971 to 1978.

Sister also served as an in-service education coordinator at St. Joseph’s Center in Scranton, PA, from 1978 to 1986; pastoral minister at Our Lady of Angels Parish in Brooklyn, NY, from 1986 to 1987; in-service education coordinator at the Marian Convent in Scranton, PA, from 1987 to 2005; and support staff member at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton, PA, from 2005 to 2017.

From 2017 until the time of her death, Sister Virginia was a prayer minister at Our Lady of Peace Residence in Scranton.

Sister Virginia is survived by a brother, William of Stuart, FL; two sisters, Mary Agnes Foley of Waco, TX, and Frances Zonfrillo of Pacific Palisades, CA; nieces and nephews; grandnieces and grandnephews. She is also survived by the members of the IHM Congregation.

The funeral will be Friday, July 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 Friday, July 12, between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. A prayer service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Interment will follow Mass on Friday at St. Catherine’s Cemetery in Moscow, PA.

Prayer of Remembrance and Funeral Mass


Reflection

Given by Sister Judy O’Brien, IHM Leadership Team Member

We sisters all bear the initials IHM following our names. It is who we become on the day of our first professions.  These initials create an automatic bond among us, a belonging that lasts a lifetime.  On that day we are bestowed these initials without any clue or remote idea of all the places they will take us, the people we will serve, and the convents that house all the women with whom we will share community.  We go to our graves with these beautiful initials Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, or as we are referred to the IHM sisters.  One of the most wonderful places these initials took me as a very young sister was to St. Joseph’s Center where I met and shared life with Sister Virginia Waters, IHM because IHM followed our names. 

Many of us sisters have other initials following our names because of the educational degrees we have earned.  You may or may not see them, but they are there and they connect us to other communities of people all over the world. For our Virginia Waters those initials were R.N., registered nurse.  It is this Virginia that I remember and share a bit of her story with you.  As many of you know Virginia had a tad of OCD in her personality. Everything Virginia did was an attempt at perfection.  In God’s design, I’m sure it was no coincidence that nursing was her chosen field of expertise. Nursing requires exacting, sanitizing, and extreme accuracy and, if done well, an abundance of love.  I was blessed to witness first-hand Virginia’s loving heart.

In our days at St. Joe’s, the babies who were waiting adoption lived with us in a nursery downstairs. Sister Virginia, R.N., was in charge of that holy place. Sometimes there would be one baby and sometimes there would be ten babies, but in Virginia’s care for a brief moment, they were all her babies.  If I close my eyes, I can see this impeccably attired, veiled sister in a pure white habit rocking an infant to sleep in a sweet white rocking chair while the others slept. In the chaotic moments, she would be bustling about in short quick steps up and down the lined, clear plastic cribs to meet each one’s needs. Feeding, changing, rocking or holding closely a beautifully swaddled infant who needed human connection and love.  Virginia provided that abundance of love.  At dinner she would give us an update on their growth and progress.  And when the time came, it was Virginia Waters, R.N., IHM who dressed them and placed them into the arms of those they would call mom and dad forever.  She knew deeply the experience of letting go for the common good.  This was our sister who loved these infants into life.

I also believe that it was in God’s design that during these last years Virginia would be cared for by that community of people who bear the same R.N. or C.N.A. initials. These wonderful professionals who, like Virginia with the infants, show that same abundance of love with her and our elderly sisters. They knew Virginia’s need for exacting, sanitizing and accuracy.  They knew how she liked her clothing and hair to look, what she liked to eat and when she liked to eat, and what time she liked to sleep. For all of her caregivers, we are grateful.

Some may say that initials don’t matter, but for those of us with IHM following our names, they mean everything.  Go in peace Virginia Waters, IHM, R.N. and please watch over all of us left to carry on that mission of serving with an abundance of love.  Amen.

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