Obituary of Sr Martina Reuther

Sister of Christian Charity Martina Reuther passed away on Sunday, June 2, 2024, at Mallinckrodt Convent, Mendham, NJ. Gertrude Teresa Reuther was born in Scranton, PA, on February 12, 1926, to John and Anna (Jacobe) Reuther. Gertrude entered the Sisters of Christian Charity on August 31, 1941 and began her Novitiate on August 21, 1942, receiving the name Sister Martina. She professed her First Vows on August 21, 1944, and her Perpetual Vows on August 20, 1950.

Sister Martina was a graduate of St. Mary of the Assumption School, Scranton, and Immaculata High School, Mendham.  During her 82 years of religious life, she used her culinary expertise and her organizational skills in kitchens large and small in SCC convents in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Maryland. In Pennsylvania, she served in Wilkes-Barre, Pottsville, Williamsport, Reading, Philadelphia, and Danville; in New Jersey: Elizabeth, Chatham and Mendham. Sister Martina also served in the Bronx, NY and in Baltimore, MD. Sister also assisted in the kitchen during the SCC General Chapter in Rome, Italy, in 1977.

Sister Martina not only fed “multitudes” through her service in the kitchens of the Sisters of Christian Charity, she also trained the next generation of community chefs to serve in the same cheerful and loving manner. Additionally, Sister’s excellence as a baker will be remembered by many Sisters of Christian Charity and neighbors in the Danville area who were the happy recipients of her baked goods. She willingly taught others the finer points of baking and even provided step-by-step directions in a video, “Baking Secrets for an Apple Pie,” which was used as a fundraiser.

During over 30 years at Holy Family Convent in Danville, Sister Martina’s expertise extended beyond baking and the running of the kitchen to the training of therapy dogs. Sister Martina regularly visited Geisinger Children’s Hospital and Danville State Hospital, Danville, and Shamokin Area Community Hospital, Shamokin, PA, with her certified therapy dogs, Freddy and JoJo. She received an award from Therapy Dogs International for her work. She also trained watch dogs in several convents.

In May 2018, Sister Martina retired to the Motherhouse in Mendham, where she continued to surprise the Sisters with delicious baked goods, then participated in a ministry of prayer and presence until her death at age 98.

Sister Martina is survived by her community of the Sisters of Christian Charity and her nieces and nephew, Anne, Cathy, Mary Rose, Ann, Gertrude and James, and multiple loving grandnieces, grandnephews and their families. She was predeceased by her parents, her brothers John, Joseph, Eugene, Charles, Donald and James, and her sisters, Anna and Mary.

Visitation will be held in the Chapel of Mary Immaculate at the Motherhouse in Mendham on Wednesday, June 5, 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 Thursday, June 6, at 10:30 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 Martina to the Sisters of Christian Charity, 350 Bernardsville Road, Mendham, NJ, 07945, or at sccus.org/donate.