Sister Mary Louise Minkle, former BEHS teacher, dies at 84

EMMITSBURG, Md. — Sister Mary Louise Minkle, a Daughter of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul and former teacher at Bishop England High School in Charleston, S.C., died Feb. 15 at Villa St. Michael, the province’s retirement residence. She was 84. A funeral Mass was celebrated Feb. 18 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg.

Sister Mary Louise was born in Roxbury, Mass., a daughter of the late Arthur J. and Mary Margaret Kenney Minkle. She attended public and private schools there. She received a bachelor’s degree in secretarial science from St. Joseph College in Emmitsburg in 1966 and earned a master’s degree in business education from The Catholic University of America in 1976.

Sister Mary Louise entered the Daughters of Charity in 1946, and during her community life served in various missions and duties. Her teaching career spanned 33 years.

In 1948, after completing the seminary (novitiate), she was sent on her first mission to St. Vincent’s Home in Saginaw, Mich., where she served for five years as a teacher.

She taught at St. Joseph School in Petersburg, Va., from 1953-1954; St. Pius X School in Greensboro, N.C., from 1954-1960; Holy Cross Elementary School in Lynchburg, Va., from 1960-1967 and its high school from 1969-1976; Seton High School in Baltimore, Md., from 1967-1969; and Bishop England High School from 1976-1981.

She served as a receptionist at the Seton Shrine Center in Emmitsburg from 1981-1985, followed by a brief assignment at Jenkins Memorial Home in Baltimore. She served in the pastoral care departments at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C., from 1985-1993, and DePaul Medical Center in Norfolk, Va., from 1993-1996. Sister Mary Louise returned to Emmitsburg in 1996 and became a resident of Villa St. Michael.

Sister Mary Louise was a member of the National Business Education Association and Catholic Business Education Association, for which she served as president of the South-Atlantic region.

Sister Mary Louise is survived by three sisters: Winifred Guzowski of Lake, Mich., Elizabeth Reynolds of Newton, Mass., and Margaret Kelley of Randolph, Mass.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Daughters of Charity Support Fund for the Elderly and Infirm Sisters, 333 South Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, MD 21727.