Dominican Sister of Peace Marie Martha Turowski, OP, (94), died on June 4, 2017, at the Sansbury Care Center, St. Catharine, KY. A native of Philadelphia, Sr. Marie Martha was the eldest child of Martha and Raymond Turowski and had two brothers and two sisters.
She was born in 1923 and entered the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine de' Ricci, now the Dominican Sisters of Peace, in 1946. She graduated from the St. Bartholomew Commercial School (Philadelphia, PA) in 1940 and earned her certificate to teach CCD in 1962.
Sr. Marie Martha, best known as simply “Marie,” spent the majority of her religious life in the place where her own vocation began – the Dominican Retreat House in Elkins Park, PA. She became a Dominican Sister after attending a retreat at the House in 1945 and truly enjoyed welcoming others to both the retreat house and to a deeper relationship with God. She also served in New York, Florida, and New Mexico.
In her memorial at the Funeral Mass, Sr. Patricia Moran remembered Sister Marie’s love of and gift for food. She lovingly prepared meals for more than 100 retreatants every weekend at Elkins Park, making cooking and baking both her art and her ministry. She once joked of her beloved friend and study companion, Sister Ruth Elsner, that “Ruth feeds the mind and I feed the stomach.” No one ever left Sister Marie’s table unsatisfied.
She moved to the Dominican Sisters of Peace Care Center in St. Catharine, KY, in 2013, where she enjoyed a life of prayer and companionship with her sisters.
Sr. Marie Martha was preceded in death by her parents, two of her brothers and one sister. She is survived by her sister, Eleanor Foley, and several nieces and nephews.
A Vigil of Remembrance and Funeral Mass were held on Thursday, June 15 at the Sansbury Care Center Chapel. Burial was at the St. Catharine Motherhouse cemetery.
Memorial gifts in Sr. Marie Martha Turowski's memory may be submitted securely online or sent to:
The Dominican Sisters of Peace
Office of Mission Advancement
2320 Airport Drive
Columbus, OH 43219