A memorial Mass for Sister Mary Patricia White, RSCJ, will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Oakwood Chapel in Atherton, California. She died on Oct. 22 in Berkeley, California. She was 83 years old and a religious for 66 years.
Mary Pat, as she was known throughout her life, was born on April 19, 1942, in St. Charles to Lee Ignatius White and Beatrice Frances Boler White. She was one of four children, with a sister and two brothers. A graduate of the the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles, she earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Maryville College. She attended the National College of Education in Evanston, Illinois, earning an master of arts in education, and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, earning an master of science in administration. She also earned a master’s degree in spirituality from the Center for Creation Centered Spirituality.
Sister Mary Pat entered the Society of the Sacred Heart in 1959. She pronounced her first vows in 1962 and made her final profession in 1967. She taught at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles and the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, Louisiana. She returned to the Academy of the Sacred Heart in St. Charles and taught for six years (1967-73). She was then principal of Oak Hill School (1973-80).
Sister Mary Pat then moved on to Duchesne Academy in Houston, Texas, where she was head of the middle school until 1983, and then to Stuart Hall in San Francisco, where she taught religion until 1986. From 1987-89, Sister Mary Pat joined the Newman Center in Sacramento, California as a campus minister. She was made a co-director of campus ministry at the Newman Catholic Center in Davis, California (1989-1997). Sister Mary Pat then went on to serve as associate director at the Cal Poly University Newman Catholic Center in San Luis Obispo, California (1997-2004). After a one-year sabbatical, she served as a pastoral associate at St. Teresa of Avila Church in San Francisco (2005-07). In 2007, she helped to launch Duchesne House for Volunteers in New Orleans, which provided a service and immersion experience for volunteers who came to help with the rebuilding of the city.
Seventeen years of campus ministry at the university level preceded Sister Mary Pat’s appointment as the vocation director for the Society of the Sacred Heart in 2012. She loved working with young people, just as she had found great joy in administration of Sacred Heart elementary schools. “I was humbled to be asked to do this work with vocation ministry,” she said. “It is a sacred responsibility, introducing people to the Society of the Sacred Heart and to how we are living our charism today, as well as walking with them through a discernment process.”
Sister Mary Pat’s most recent ministry was with Sophie’s Well, where she was part of a core team with two other sisters, joining a collaborative group of spiritual companions on retreats and training in Sacred Heart schools, at the provincial office and internationally. As a trained spiritual director, she accompanied many retreatants over the years and will be remembered for her kindness and faithful witness.
Sister Mary Pat was a loved member of the Sophia House Community in Berkeley, California. Days before her death, she participated in province meetings and an organized protest. While she was living with various illnesses, she remained active.
Religious of the Sacred Heart describe their lives as being “wholly contemplative and wholly apostolic.” “That sums up the desire I have for my life,” Sister Mary Pat said. “Like breathing in and breathing out; you need both and you can’t separate them. For us it’s a lifelong inspiration and challenge.”
Burial will be in the Oakwood Cemetery.
