A funeral Mass for Sister Mary Blish was celebrated June 28 in the Infant of Prague Chapel at Teresian House in Albany, N.Y. Sister Mary died June 21 at Teresian House. She was 89 and had been a member of the Society of the Sacred Heart for 64 years.
Born in Chicago, Sister Mary was educated by the Dominican Sisters in Chicago until college. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Maryville College of the Sacred Heart in St. Louis, a master’s degree at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y., and a doctorate degree from St. Louis University. Sister Mary entered the Society of the Sacred Heart at Kenwood in Albany, N.Y., in 1950, made first vows there in 1953 and final profession in Rome in 1959.
An English teacher, she taught in Albany, N.Y., in Grand Coteau, La., in Cincinnati, Ohio, and at Maryville College where she served as president for four years, and finally at Manhattanville College for 13 years. She then spent 18 years as visiting professor of English at Seishin Joshi Daigaku (Sacred Heart University) in Tokyo and also taught at the University of the Sacred Heart (Song-Sim) in Chuncheon Gangwon-do, Korea, before returning to the United States. She worked as a researcher and editor for the U.S. province of the Society of the Sacred Heart and as a tutor at Xavier University and the Wright School in New Orleans.
