Dominican Sister of Peace Mary Faith (Therese May) Reaney, OP, (86), died at Mohun Health Care Center, Columbus, OH on Wednesday, February 24, 2021.
Sister Mary Faith was born in 1935 in Pittsburgh, PA to Margaret Kelly and Thomas Reaney. When she was seventeen, she accompanied a good friend to a weekend activity at a Motherhouse in the Pittsburgh area. She left convinced that she was being called to religious life and entered the Congregation in 1953. We were blessed with her presence among us for 65 years.
Sister Mary Faith earned her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Saint Mary of the Springs College, now Ohio Dominican University, and her Master of Education in Guidance and Counseling from Duquesne University. She was a teacher and administrator on the elementary and secondary levels in Connecticut, Illinois, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania and a Guidance Counselor at our founded school in New York City, Dominican Academy. She also served as Registrar and Director of Admissions at Albertus Magnus College. With her cheerful demeanor and caring nature, Sr. Mary Faith had the ability to relate to students from first grade through their college years.
In 1991, Sr. Mary Faith was asked to put her organizational talents to work as an Administrative Assistant to the Leadership Team. Her expert clerical skills were of great value, but so was her discretion and sense of humor. Later she was invited to work on Special Congregational Projects. She entered her final ministry of Prayer and Presence at the Mohun Care Center in 2021.
In her homily at Sr. Mary Faith’s funeral, Sr. Margaret Ormond remembered her as as good as her name – a woman of true faith.
“In my last conversation with Faith before she died,” Sr. Margaret said, “she expressed her confidence in God’s constant care for her and how she was ready to meet her Jesus. She said to me: ‘Margaret, don’t be sad, I have been eagerly awaiting this reunion with my God for a long time.’ This is the deep faith that secured the everyday Sr. Mary Faith we know and love.”
She was preceded in death by her parents Thomas and Margaret Kelly Reaney, and her brother Thomas. She is survived by her sisters, Mary M. Beirne, Kathleen Mastrorocco, and nephews and nieces.
A private funeral Mass was held at the Columbus Motherhouse on March 4, 2021. Sr. Mary Faith was interred in a private graveside service at St. Joseph Cemetery in Columbus, OH.
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