Sister Mary Catherine Moan, D.C.

EMMITSBURG, MD ~ February 5, 2008

A Mass of Christian burial was offered at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, February 7, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Emmitsburg, for Sister Mary Catherine Moan, DC. Her brother, Rev. Francis X. Moan, S.J., was the main celebrant at her funeral Mass. Sister died Monday, February 4, 2008 at Villa St. Michael, the province’s retirement residence in Emmitsburg. She was 93 years of age and 73 years of vocation.

Born to parents Francis M. and Emma Teresa Keenan Moan, Catherine Elizabeth Moan, the fifth child in a family of eleven children—six brothers and four sisters. She was baptized at Saint Ann’s Church in Baltimore, raised and educated in Baltimore, Maryland.

Four of Sister’s six brothers served in World War II. One was killed in action and another spent two years in a prison camp. Sister was very proud of her brothers’ war records. Her youngest brother, Rev. Francis X. (Frank) Moan, S.J., entered the Jesuits in 1945, and was ordained on June 23, 1957.

She graduated from Saint Dominic’s School and Seton High School where she graduated in 1933. Catherine Elizabeth began to consider a religious vocation in the 7th or 8th grade, and later entered the community of the Daughters of Charity on December 1, 1934. She earned bachelor’s degree from Saint Joseph College, Emmitsburg, in 1953.

After receiving her habit in 1935, Catherine Elizabeth, now Sister Mary Catherine, accepted her first mission to the Our Lady of Victory School in Portsmouth, Virginia where she taught third grade (1935-1940) and taught elementary school at Saint Ann’s School in Bridgeport, Connecticut (1940-1943). Sister’s next teaching assignment (1943-1945) was at Saint Vincent Home and School in Washington, D.C. and later at Saint Paul’s School, Portsmouth, Virginia where she taught 7th and 8th grades for four years (1945-1949).

Sister Mary Catherine traveled north to Utica, New York for her next teaching assignment, then on to Saint Peter’s School in Wilmington, Delaware (1954-1956). Having completed that assignment, Sister was sent to teach at St. Catherine Labouré School in Wheaton, Maryland (1956-1958).

In 1958, Sister Mary Catherine went to Saint Agnes Hospital, Baltimore, to work in the business office. A change of ministry was in store for her as the hospital was in the middle of a building project. She quickly learned to read blueprints and supervise various details of construction as well as the purchase of furniture for the hospital.

Her next mission was at Providence Hospital in Detroit, Michigan where she became involved in the same type of work for one year before moving north to Seton Hospital, Waterville, Maine, 1967, where she had the duty of moving coordinator.

In January 1967, Sister was on the move again but this time south to DePaul Medical Center, Norfolk, Virginia where she served for ten years in the Medical Records Department.

The following three years (1977-1980) were spent at Saint Vincent’s Child Care Center in Timonium, Maryland. Saint Vincent’s was under construction and Sister again used her past experience in observing details evaluating the construction and ordered new furnishings.

Sister’s last mission was Villa St. Michael in Emmitsburg where she arrived on October 3, 1980. There she assisted with audio-visual materials, the library and driving other Sisters to appointments, etc., until failing health dictated her retirement in 2004.

Sister is survived by a sister, Doris C. Woods, and brothers William Moan and Rev. Francis X. Moan, S.J., all of Baltimore and numerous nieces and nephews.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Daughters of Charity Support Fund for the Elderly and Infirm Sisters, 333 South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, Maryland 21727.