OBITUARIES

Sister Mary Carmela, OSBM, teacher and administrator

FOX CHASE MANOR, Pa. - Sister Mary Carmela Pazdrey died at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Basil the Great on Friday, April 27. She was still active in her ministry at the Basilead Library at Manor College.

Sister Carmela, a native of Pennsylvania and daughter of the late Rev. Michael Pazdrey and the late Mary Agatha Ivanush, entered the Basilian Order on December 8, 1942, and was invested with the religious habit by her father on May 27, 1943. Her final profession took place on August 26, 1951, in the presence of her brother, the Rev. George Pazdrey. In addition to her parents, Sister Carmela is preceded in death by her brother George and her sisters Helen and Vera. She is survived by two sisters, Olga and Olympia, and her brother Michael.

During her years in the Basilian community Sister Carmela taught in the parish schools of St. Vladimir's, Arnold, Pa.; St. Nicholas, Watervliet, N.Y.; St. George, New York City; St. Michael, Yonkers, N.Y.; Ss. Peter and Paul, Auburn, N.Y.; St. John the Baptist, Newark, N.J.; Ss. Peter and Paul, Jersey City, N.J.; Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Olyphant, Pa.; and at St. Basil Academy, Fox Chase, Pa.

Sister Carmela held key positions in the community, serving as provincial secretary and superior of the Fox Chase community. In 1960 Sister Carmela was elected vice provincial of the Basilian Philadelphia Province and from 1965-1970 served as the provincial superior. As provincial superior, she was instrumental in initiating the construction of the new St. Basil Academy Building and the Basilead Library at Manor College. It was also through Sister Carmela's influence that laypersons were accepted onto Manor's board of trustees.

Parastas services were held in the Sisters' Chapel at the Basilian Motherhouse on April 30 with the sisters' chaplain, the Rev. Michael Rozmarynowycz, as the celebrant. The sisters sang the responses. On Tuesday, May 1, a funeral divine liturgy was sung in the Holy Trinity Chapel of the Sisters of St. Basil the Great. The Most Rev. Walter Paska officiated along with the Revs. Rozmarynowycz, Orest Mykhaylyuk and Philip Sandrick.

Sister Mary Cecilia Jurasinski OSBM, provincial councilor and president of Manor College, delivered the eulogy. Interment followed in the Basilian Sisters' cemetery.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 17, 2001, No. 24, Vol. LXIX

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