Obituary of Sr. Mary Ann George

Sister of Christian Charity Mary Ann George passed away on December 27, 2023 at Mallinckrodt Convent, Mendham, New Jersey. Mary Ann George was born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on April 18, 1941 to Carl and Elizabeth (Nierle) George. She entered the Sisters of Christian Charity on August 28, 1959 in Mendham and began her Novitiate on August 21, 1960, receiving the name Sister M. Carl. Later she resumed her Baptismal name and was known as Sister Mary Ann.  She professed her First Vows on August  21, 1962, and her Perpetual Vows on August 15, 1968.

Sister Mary Ann attended St. Boniface School and St. Mary’s High School, both in Williamsport. She graduated from Immaculata High School and attended Assumption College for Sisters, both in Mendham. 

Sister Mary Ann’s active apostolate involved the tireless self-sacrifice of domestic service. After her First Profession, she began her work as a homemaker at the Motherhouse, Mendham; St. Ann’s Academy, Wilkes-Barre, PA; St. Lawrence, Harrisburg, PA; and St. Joseph, Newton, NJ.

In August 1972, Sister Mary Ann began her ministry of service in the kitchen both in the United States and in Rome, Italy. An outstanding, efficient cook, she served in Williamsport (St. Boniface and Divine Providence Hospital), Camp Hill (Holy Spirit Hospital), the Bronx (Immaculate Conception), Mendham (Motherhouse and Villa Pauline Retreat House), and Danville (Holy Family Convent).  Sister used her culinary expertise at the Sisters of Christian Charity Generalate in Rome from 1981 until 1984, from 1986 until 1990, and again in 1992. Sister’s last assignment took her to Holy Spirit Hospital in 2012, where she continued her service in the convent kitchen until 2017, when she embarked on a new ministry of visiting patients in the Same Day Surgery Unit at Holy Spirit Hospital as a Pastoral Care volunteer. In December 2020, Sister Mary Ann came to the Motherhouse in Mendham, where she participated in a ministry of prayer and presence until her death.

While serving at Villa Pauline Retreat House, Sister Mary Ann developed what came to be known as a “kitchen door ministry” in which both those in need and those who wanted to donate to others could approach the convent door and find Sister Mary Ann ready to assist them.  She provided food for numerous shut-ins and made sure that donated items she could not use were distributed among the inner-city poor where other Sisters of Christian Charity ministered. Also while serving at the Villa, she authored a cookbook, “Dining at Villa Pauline,” a collection of her favorite recipes which Villa guests and retreatants had enjoyed over the years.

Sister Mary Ann is survived by the Sisters of Christian Charity and her sister, Elizabeth (“Betty Lou”) George, Williamsport.

Visitation will be held in the Chapel of Mary Immaculate at the Motherhouse in Mendham on Friday December 29, 2023 from 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. with Vespers being prayed at 4:30 p.m. The Liturgy of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the Chapel of Mary Immaculate on Saturday December 30 at 11 a.m., and will be livestreamed at sccus.org. Interment will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery on the grounds of the Motherhouse. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Sister Mary Ann George to the Sisters of Christian Charity, 350 Bernardsville Road, Mendham, NJ, 07945, or at sccus.org/donate.