Sister Mary Walsh

WALSH, Sister Mary SHSp. Died on October 16, 2020 at the Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate in San Antonio, Texas. The fourth of thirteen children of Winifred and Martin Walsh, Sr. Mary was born on July 14, 1926 in Callowfeenish, Carna, Connemara, County Galway, Ireland and grew up in a village where Irish was the principal language. Her love for her native land and tongue endured throughout her life. She loved and was loved by her extended family in Ireland, the U.S. and Australia and spent 74 years being a "sister to her sisters" in her religious community.

Sr. Mary is the Sister of Bridget Christopher of Braintree and Sally Noding of England and her late brothers Pat, Tom, Joe, John and Matty and sisters Kate Cotter, Barbara Carroll, Ann Davis and Peggy King and her beloved 28 nieces and 17 nephews, her cousins, and her sisters in community.

Sr. Mary entered the congregation in 1947 and ministered as a teacher in Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. In San Antonio, she taught at St. Peter Claver Academy and Our Lady of Perpetual Help School (Grimes Street). She also cared for the retired sisters at the Motherhouse and for the patients at Mother of Perpetual Help Nursing Home in Brownsville, TX.

In her retirement years, she delighted in "rocking the babies" at Healy Murphy Child Development Center. Each child was special to her. Sr. Mary was known for many years as "Sister Martin de Porres" and, like her patron saint, she treasured the opportunity of caring for the poor and the overlooked.

Because of the current circumstances surrounding COVID-19, a private Mass of Christian Burial will be held.

Donations can be made in Sister Mary's memory to the ministries of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate, 300 Yucca Street, San Antonio, Texas 78203.