In Loving Memory

Sr. Mary Zavacky, SUSC
(Sister Edward Mary)
May 16, 2031 ~ Nov. 27, 2019

Sister Mary Zavacky (Sr. Edward Mary) died November 27, 2019 in Lewistown PA at the age of 88. The daughter of the late Edward and Jane (Short) Zavacky, she was preceded in death by her brothers Edward and John. In addition to her Holy Union Sisters, her sister-in-law, Anna “Margie” Zavacky, cousin Mary Ann Parson, nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews survive her.
A native of Lewistown, she attended Derry Township High School in Yeagertown, PA before entering the Holy Union Sisters in Fall River, MA in 1946. Sr. Mary pronounced her perpetual vows on August 22, 1955. She attended the Sacred Heart School of Education in Fall River and took several professional teaching courses at Notre Dame of Maryland University. For over forty years, she taught primary grades in Holy Union schools in Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
In 1994 Sr. Mary returned to Lewistown to care for her mother. While caring for her mother, she was a substitute teacher at Sacred Heart of Jesus School and a pastoral visitor for Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish. In 2016, Sr. Mary celebrated seventy years as a Holy Union Sister.
Visitation took place on Wednesday, December 4 at 10 a.m. in Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, 106 Dorcas Street, Lewistown, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial. Burial followed at Sacred Heart Cemetery, Lewistown. Funeral arrangements were by Heller-Hoenstine Funeral Home 200 N. Main St., Lewistown. Donations in Sr. Mary’s memory may be made to the Holy Union Sisters Mission Advancement Office, P.O. Box 410, Milton, MA 02186.
Throughout her religious life, Sister Mary was a dedicated teacher of young children. Her calm and gentle manner in the classroom provided an atmosphere which enabled her students to learn with ease. In her last ministry as a pastoral visitor to elderly members of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, this same gentle manner was a source of comfort to all whom she visited.
         On the day of Sister Mary’s burial, the Church prayed Psalm 22
           as the Responsorial Psalm. As she enters into fullness of life,
                      she can unite her prayer with the Psalmist:
                  “I shall live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”

To download a copy of Sr. Mary Zavacky’s biography, Biography-Zavacky Sr Mary