Dominican Sister of Peace Sister Mary Immaculata Hoguet, 99, died at Mohun Health Care Center, Columbus, OH, on Tuesday, November 10, 2020.
Sister Mary was born Mary Rita in 1922 in Lansdowne, PA, to Mary Elizabeth McWilliams and Francis Hoguet.
She entered the community in 1941, made first profession in 1944, and took her final vows as a Dominican Sister in 1947. Sister Mary earned her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from the University of Dayton and her CPE certification from the University of Michigan Hospital. Always interested in improving her ability to minister effectively, she also took courses in clinical pastoral education, psychopathology, and spiritual direction.
Sister Mary followed the Dominican tradition of itinerancy through her long religious life, which began with her ministry as an educator in Cuba, New Jersey, and New York. She served as Assistant Director of Novices at St. Catherine Hall and as Coordinator of the Dominican Retreat Center, both in Elkins Park, PA.
During her post at El Centro in Miami, FL, she assisted incoming Cuban refugees who were fleeing the Castro regime. She also ministered in retreat work in New York and Pennsylvania and served as a hospital chaplain in Michigan and Florida.
Sr. Mary entered a ministry of prayer and presence at Mohun Care Center in Columbus, OH, in 2014. She enjoyed music, drawing, reading, needlepoint, puzzles, and even ping pong, but her focus was always on the wellbeing of those around her.
In her preaching at Sr. Mary’s funeral, Sr. Anne Lythgoe, OP, remembered Sr. Mary fondly. “Mary was a serious person who, in whatever she encountered, would do it right and well. She prepared well for her ministry and felt called by God throughout her life. She expressed it that way. A continuing call from one mission to another, freely taken up because Mary knew in her deepest self that God’s grace would be with her. No matter what hardships would come her way, Mary was in tune with this sense of God’s invitation to respond to the next season of life, the next movement of the Spirit. and she felt confident, justified in her choices,” Sr. Anne recalled.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Francis and Mary Elizabeth McWilliams Hoguet, her brothers, Francis, Eugene and George and her sisters, Jane, and Anne Hoguet. She is survived by nieces and nephews.
Funeral services and burial at St. Joseph Cemetery were held privately on November 17, 2020. A memorial service will be held at a later date.
To donate in Sr. Mary’s memory, please click here.
To view a printable PDF copy of Sr. Mary’s memorial, click here.