SISTER RITA MAUREEN

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SISTER RITA MAUREEN, SNJM (HELEN REDMOND) At St. Boniface Hospital on August 29, 2004, Sister Rita Maureen died as she had lived, radiating faith and love. Sister had spent the last eight years of her life in the infirmary of the Holy Names Sisters at the Residence Jesus-Marie in Saint Boniface and the last month at the Tache Centre. Born in Moose Jaw, SK, in 1914 to Augustine and Edith Redmond, Helen soon moved with her parents and only sibling Elizabeth (Betty) to Winnipeg. Here she entered St. Marys Academy as a kindergarten and resident student. After receiving her BA from St. Marys Academy College in 1935, she entered the Novitiate of the Sisters of the Holy Names in Outremont and committed herself definitively as a Holy Names Sister in 1942. Sister Rita Maureen served in several schools in Manitoba but most of her teaching years were spent at St. Marys Academy. Here she made an important contribution to the physics and chemistry departments and a lasting legacy to the sports program. Mourning her passing are her Holy Names Sisters and the devoted infirmary staff of her convent. She will also be missed by her many, many former students from St. Marys, now scattered far and wide, who have never forgotten her excellence as an educator and her heartfelt care for each of them. She was predeceased by her father who died when she was 11; her mother who passed away in 1948; and her beloved sister Betty whom she lost in 1984. In lieu of flowers, friends of Sister Rita Maureen, who so wish, may make a donation to the Sister Rita Maureen Bursary Fund of St. Marys Academy, 550 Welington Cres., Winnipeg, MB R3M 0C1. A prayer vigil will be held at the Residence Jesus-Marie, 321 Avenue de la Cathedrale, in Saint Boniface, on Tuesday, August 31 at 7:30 p.m., followed by a reception. Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at St. Ignatius Church on Wednesday, September 1 at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow in St. Boniface Cemetery on Archibald Street. The Desjardins Funeral Chapel in care of arrangements 233-4949; toll free 1-888-233-4949.

As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Aug 31, 2004