A Mass of Christian Burial for Sister Mary Gerald McCloskey, D.C., was held on April 6, 2020, in the Daughters’ Villa St. Michael Chapel in Emmitsburg, Maryland; burial followed at Sacred Heart Cemetery in Emmitsburg. Sister Mary Gerald died April 1, 2020, at the Daughters’ Villa St. Michael in Emmitsburg. She was years 85 years of age and 66 years vocation as a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul.
Born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 14, 1934, Sister Mary Gerald (baptized Katheryn Lorraine) was one of four children born to Gerald Francis and Marie Theresa (Carey) McCloskey. She joined the Daughters of Charity on December 31, 1953, from St. Dominic Parish, Baltimore, Maryland.
Sister graduated from Seton High School in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1953, and earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education from St. Joseph College in Emmitsburg in 1973.
After a period of initial formation, Sister Mary Gerald served as a Teacher at Our Lady Queen of Peace School in Washington, D.C., (1955 to 1960); and Mother Seton School in Emmitsburg, Maryland, (1961). Sister then responded to a missionary vocation and was missioned to Bolivia. She taught briefly in Trinidad, Bolivia, then spent most of her 56 years there doing pastoral work in the Bolivian Altiplano, then traveling by house boat with a small team to minister to the Indigenous Peoples in many villages of the Bolivian rainforests. There, she was instrumental in building schools, forming religious leaders, promoting to rights of women and their families, and addressing the health needs of the villages.
Sister Mary Gerald returned to the United States in 2017. In 2019, she was missioned to Hardeeville, South Carolina, where she served until 2020.
Sister was preceded in death by her parents; her brothers, Gerald and Richard; her sister-in-law, Olive; and her nephew, Gerald. She is survived by her brother, Joseph; and her sisters-in-laws, Freida and Kathleen; numerous nieces; nephews; cousins; and her Sisters in Community.
A Memorial Mass will be held in Baltimore at a later date.