Sister Mary Malherek, MM

Born: February 18, 1932
Entered: February 1, 1951
Died: September 17, 2024

“O God, how manifold are your works! In wisdom, you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” Psalm 104 vs24.

At 11:40 PM, September 17, 2024, at the Maryknoll Sisters Center, Sister Mary Malherek entered into eternal life, sharing her journey of light and grace with all the creatures she treasured throughout her long and fruitful life.

Mary Katherine Malherek was born during a Minnesota blizzard on February 18, 1932, to Peter Edward and Grace Mary Seigel Malherek in Fairmont, Minnesota. She had four siblings, three of whom have pre-deceased her; her sister Margaret lives in California who will join us on livestream this morning along with Mary’s extended family.

Mary wrote of herself: “Being raised on a small farm, all kinds of flowers, birds, insects and seeds interested her. As a child, her pockets needed to be reviewed whenever she came into the house to check for any living things she might be carrying.” It was a happy childhood, filled with all aspects of farm life in which the children of the family were an integral part.

Mary graduated from Good Counsel Academy in Mankato, Minnesota in June 1950, and Mary and her older sister Joan entered the Maryknoll Sisters at Valley Park, Missouri on February 1, 1951. Her profession was September 8, 1953 when she received the name Sr. Paul Stephen—returning to her baptismal name some years later. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Education from Maryknoll Teachers College in 1957 and was assigned to St. Anthony School in the Bronx. She called this “a time of wonder and awe,” as she entered into New York life with African-American and Puerto Rican families studying Spanish on weekends with Fr. Ivan Illich.

She was assigned in 1961 to Rogers Hall High School in Merida, Mexico, and taught there and in Puebla, Mexico—both were schools for upper-class children and Fr. Illich’s influence pulled her to seek other ways of service. In 1971, she began her study of nursing at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Minnesota and received her Bachelor of Science in 1973.

Assigned back to Central America, Mary entered wholeheartedly into the formation of rural health promoters with the Diocesan Team in Jaceltenango, Guatemala from 1973-1982. But then she writes: “By 1982, the government-military repression of indigenous people was in full force, deaths and disappearances on all sides.” While Mary knew what she was doing was valid and needed, she felt that she could do more for the people by returning to the United States and acting as an accompanying person for the many refugees from Guatemala. She also assisted them by speaking in churches and other venues about the suffering of the people and the role of the United States in all of it. At this time, she fell, in her own words, “a victim to PTSD,” and found support from the Chicago Religious Task Force which was working to educate the churches and the public about events in Guatemala and El Salvador. Her inner strength came from the refugees whom she accompanied from 1985-86.

The next step for Mary was her assignment in 1986 to Campeche, Mexico to a Guatemalan Refugee Camp, sharing life and faith with the refugees on a daily basis for six years. From 1993-95, Mary was asked to be Admissions Director for the Maryknoll Language and Cultural Center in Cochabamba, Bolivia—welcoming and guiding new students, working with them as they found their way into a new culture. She especially loved getting to know the many Maryknoll Sisters who came through the Center House in Cochabamba.

Next, in 1995, Mary joined what she called “the Rolls Royce of Christian communities” in Oaxaca, Mexico. This was a joint community with the men of the Society of the Divine Word. Mary loved meeting and orienting the mostly young volunteers who worked with the legion of children in the area, teaching, cooking together, gardening, and just sharing life.

In 2006, Mary spent a year working in the development department at the Center, and then spent the next three years in Northern California, accompanying her mother, and serving in the nearby Women’s Federal Detention Center as well as the Crisis Unit at the local hospital. She saw this “retirement” as a gift of time to spend with and serve others.

Mary was assigned to Monrovia in January 2011, and loved the life and the sisters in the community there. On October 1, 2023, Mary came to the Eden community.

Her own words describe what she might be doing now: “I’ll play a flute and have a luxurious mane of hair. I’ll go barefoot…and display a huge blue green planet flag and hope for nearby scrabble partners.” May all her wishes come true!

We welcome members of Mary’s family who are with us today. We are grateful to have with us this morning Maryknoll Father David LaBuda who will celebrate the Liturgy of Christian Burial.